Reactionary movements are defined as those seeking to “advocate the restoration of a previous state of social affairs.” And following the “It’s Okay to be White” signs that have cropped up across campuses all over the U.S., colleges are facing a new reactionary movement. One of those campuses is Georgetown University, which has recently ruled to allow Love Saxa, a student organization promoting heterosexual marriage, to remain on campus. The group will also continue to be funded by Georgetown. 

Love Saxa is a group founded on the idea of marriage as a “monogamous and permanent union between a man and a woman.” 

Two Georgetown students recently brought a suit against Love Saxa, calling for it to be defunded and removed as a sanctioned campus organization. The students, Jasmin Ouseph and Chad Gasman, argued the group was not only a hate group against LGBTQ+ students that violated their university’s code for organizations, but also that it made LGBTQ+ students literally pay for their oppression, as Love Saxa operated with Georgetown funding. The university’s Committee for Student Activity eventually ruled that the group was in keeping with values of the Catholic Church, and did not violate any existing rules for campus organizations.

.@Georgetown spokesperson releases this statement ahead of the SAC review of Love Saxa’s campus status. @ameliairvine3 @fox5dc pic.twitter.com/AYgiQOuSOM

— Ronica Cleary 🇺🇸 (@RonicaCleary) October 25, 2017

This decision is a shame. It would be one thing to let the group remain on campus, but to keep funding a group that supports the denial of a basic right for approximately six percent of the school’s students is inexcusable. 

If Georgetown truly wanted to “support a climate that is welcoming to all students and supporting of our LGBTQ communities,” as a spokesman for the university said, it would not allow a group like this to continue to receive university funding.

Here is the issue: when universities try to espouse classical liberal values like free speech for everyone, they put everyone at risk of hatred and intolerance. Karl Popper, a Jewish-Austrian philosopher who left his home in 1937 summed up this struggle in his “paradox of tolerance,” stating: “Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, and if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them. ”

Herein lies the issue of the Georgetown Committee for Student Activity’s ruling. If people wish to truly ensure the wellbeing of all, they must stop those who want to remove that wellbeing from certain groups or, at the very least, stop funding them. One cannot foster tolerance by giving the intolerant a platform and monetarily supporting them.

The significance of this issue is not lost on Tulane students. There are groups on campus that are centered on reactionary movements and foster hatred. One student organization, Turning Point USA, has an active chapter at Tulane, and its national chapter is known for creating a “Watchlist” of college professors who “advance a radical agenda in lecture halls,” according to the watchlist website.

These reactionary organizations exist on many college campuses, including Tulane’s. Students must make their voices heard and hold their universities accountable for the groups they fund. They must stand against hatred in all forms to ensure Tulane does not allow hate to spread.

This is an opinion article and does not reflect the views of The Tulane Hullabaloo. Quinn is a freshman at Newcomb-Tulane College. He can be reached at [email protected].