Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
A student at Fordham University has been sanctioned by the school for a series of social media posts supporting conservative causes that university officials say violated its code of conduct.
Austin Tong, a senior, received a letter on Tuesday relaying the result of a student conduct hearing regarding two Instagram posts he made in recent weeks.
One of the posts shows Tong holding a rifle with a caption that read, "Don't tread on me." The other is a photo of retired St. Louis Police Capt. David Dorn, a veteran of the force killed during rioting in the city following the death of George Floyd. The caption on the post about Dorn read, "Ya'll are hypocrites."
In the post with the rifle, Tong included the hashtag: #198965, a reference to the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
In its judgment, Fordham said Tong violated two areas of the student conduct policy that he agreed to when he enrolled at the school, which prohibit threats, intimidation, and "bias and/or hate crimes."
Dean of Students Keith Eldredge admonished Tong for his posts, writing: “It is reported that on June 3 and 4 and in the recent past you made several posts on social media related to the current racial issues in the country and political issues in China.”
Tong was informed that as part of the sanctions leveled against him, he would not be permitted to represent the university in an official extracurricular capacity, and his access to on-campus facilities will be restricted, meaning he will need to take classes online. He will also be required to have meetings with university administration and pen a letter of apology.
“For too long, students have simply accepted being silenced by their schools and leftist mobs,” Tong told Young America's Foundation. “I think this says that students of all backgrounds and beliefs need to rally together to protect everyone’s right to speak, because it will only get worse if we remain indifferent.”
Tong told the organization he will consider taking legal action against the school if it doesn't rescind the sanctions.