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OGDEN — The visit to Weber State University this week of transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney underscores the sort of concern some conservatives harbor about universities and what they see as the limited range of viewpoints that get an airing in such a setting.
Mulvaney, who has famously documented her life as a transgender woman on TikTok, addressed a university gathering Wednesday that was coordinated by the Weber State University Student Association. The student group organizes activities for the university's students and is affiliated with the Student Senate, which represents student interests to the university administration.
"Mulvaney focused on finding joy through adversity, growing your confidence and setting personal and career-oriented goals," university spokeswoman Rachel Badali said. "Whatever their beliefs, our students are passionate. That's why we strive to create a campus where students can freely discuss and debate the things that matter to them. In that way, college really helps prepare students to respectfully engage in a society full of ideas and opinions."
The visit, though, raised the eyebrows of Sen. John Johnson, R-North Ogden, a conservative lawmaker who worries about the lack of "viewpoint diversity" on college campuses. Countering what conservative critics view as a dearth of vocal conservative viewpoints on campuses is an aim of HB261, the controversial measure now up for debate by Utah lawmakers that would overhaul diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the state's public universities.
"I don't have any problem with students listening to Dylan Mulvaney. I think viewpoint diversity is really important," Johnson said. But, he went on, if a university is going to play host to discussion "on issues that are divisive, that divide people, we ought to hear from both sides of the issue."
Natalie Cline, a conservative member of the Utah School Board of Education, also noted Mulvaney's visit in a public Facebook post. "Look who Weber State is paying to come speak ... Dylan Mulvaney," Cline wrote, in part. "Are state funds (taxpayer $'s) funding this?"
A dramatic confrontation at the University of Utah last November also brought the issue of viewpoint diversity to the forefront. A contingent of students advocating on behalf of the transgender community disrupted a watch party for "Damaged" that was organized by a conservative campus group, Young Americans for Freedom. "Damaged" is a film from The Daily Caller, the conservative media outlet, that "tells the story of the lives of transgender people who wish they could go back."
Ultimately, campus police brought the showing of the film to an end as the scene grew increasingly chaotic, according to an account in the Daily Utah Chronicle, the U.'s student newspaper.
"Everyone claims diversity at the U.," Lucy Atwood, head of the Young Americans for Freedom chapter at the U., subsequently told the newspaper. "But that excludes diversity of thought because everyone is trying to get YAF at Utah shut down just because we have different thoughts."
The issue emerged on the Weber State campus last year, though perhaps in muted form, when Nikole Hannah-Jones visited the university. She's the New York Times author of The 1619 Project, the journalistic initiative decried by some conservatives that casts U.S. history through the lens of slavery and its role in the country's development.
Johnson and others lobbied for a counterpoint, and the university invited Robert Woodson, a conservative civil rights activist, to address the campus. He spoke about two weeks after Hannah-Jones, though he drew a much smaller crowd than the New York Times author.
Johnson and Cline aren't the only ones who raised questions or expressed concern about Mulvaney's visit to Weber State. Mulvaney gained a flurry of media attention last year after partnering with Bud Light for a media campaign that spurred sharp backlash from conservative critics and led to a drop in sales of the beer brand.
"As with any event, there's usually an array of perspectives. Some students exercised their right to express opposition to Mulvaney's visit by holding handwritten posters," Badali said. About 150 people attended her address.
Even so, Johnson maintains that if a university hosts a discussion touching on a hot-button issue like transgender rights, one side of the story isn't enough. "If you're going to stir up the public, get both sides of the issues," he said.
Badali, for her part, said Weber State, broadly speaking, hosts a range of speakers.
"Different groups on campus host a wide variety of speakers in hopes that guests will learn, engage and grow. There are many events hosted throughout the year, but we don't yet have a full schedule for 2024," she said.
