Is There a Student Conservatism?

In his 1961 book, Revolt on the Campus, M. Stanton Evans marked the rise of a new conservatism among college students in all parts of the country. A few years later, Arnold Forster and Benjamin Epstein noted in their collection of horror stories (Danger on the Right) the somewhat uncomfortable fact that “right-wing students are verbal and articulate, and their publications are scholarly and well-written.” The revolt of 1959-64 had steadily engulfed Young Republican college federations; it had caused the emergence and spectacular growth of Young Americans for Freedom; it had, in forceful debate, brought the philosophy and politics of the free society to university and college forums across the country.

And then with incredible speed it all seemed to disappear. It was reported that Barry Goldwater’s defeat in 1964 had put an end to the “movement.” The campus civil rights, free speech and peace demonstrations of 1965 were heralded as manifestations of a new spirit in the rising generation. Amid the clattering of publicity releases and a haze of wishful reporting, the New Left was born.

JL

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John F. Lulves Jr.

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In his 1961 book, Revolt on the Campus, M. Stanton Evans marked the rise of a new conservatism among college students in all parts of the country. A few years later, Arnold Forster and Benjamin Epstein noted in their collection of horror stories (Danger on the Right) the somewhat uncomfortable fact that “right-wing students are verbal and articulate, and their publications are scholarly and well-written.” The revolt of 1959-64 had steadily engulfed Young Republican college federations; it had caused the emergence and spectacular growth of Young Americans for Freedom; it had, in forceful debate, brought the philosophy and politics of the free society to university and college forums across the country.

And then with incredible speed it all seemed to disappear. It was reported that Barry Goldwater’s defeat in 1964 had put an end to the “movement.” The campus civil rights, free speech and peace demonstrations of 1965 were heralded as manifestations of a new spirit in the rising generation. Amid the clattering of publicity releases and a haze of wishful reporting, the New Left was born.