GW Young America's Foundation

             The Hatchet published an article last week on GW Young America’s Foundation (GWYAF). Our organization routinely makes its presence felt through campus demonstrations. The article considered a recent demonstration, the “Cemetery of Innocents,” where organization members planted 1,300 crosses in the University Yard representing the 1.3 million abortions held annually. The question at hand is whether our methods are valid or irritable. Do we merely enjoy the role of rabble rousing, or are we sincerely trying to promote a viewpoint better than that of the liberal administrators and faculty? 

Whether you agree or disagree with their views, YAF reserves the right to make their voice heard on campus, be it through activism or speakers.

YAF serves as the conservative counterbalance to the majority liberal leadership of the University, and from this perspective arises our activism. Simply put, YAF seeks to give voice to America’s conservative “silent majority.”  YAF encourages conservatism as the right viewpoint and would be delighted if everyone came over to our side. Short of this, however, we simply seek to establish a balance in campus discourse.  YAF seeks not to merely to provide the conservative side of issues, often absent in the classroom and  compel others to acknowledge our valid viewpoint representing 50% of the country’s population. Most conservatively of them, YAF uses Aristotle’s three divisions of Rhetoric: pathos, ethos and logos to make their voice heard.

A student complained that the Cemetery of Innocents lacked academic gravitas, and merely sought to stir controversy. She said “it detracts from what they’re saying, because I don’t think that’s an educated way to go about it.” Well that’s nice. In fact she is the one that lacks education. Aristotle, that great ancient philosopher, taught that persuasive speech contains three categories: ethos, logos and pathos. Each of these must be balanced for the point to be effectively communicated to the audience.  President Obama, possibly the greatest public speaker in Washington, gives careful thought to each of these fields when he delivers speeches. George W. Bush, our late president, failed to master these techniques. Ethos is the credibility or authority to speak and logos refers to the quality of the argument presented. Pathos is the technique by which the speaker appeals to the audience’s emotions. This is what Obama did using the slogans “Hope” and “Change we can believe in.” This is what Bush failed at with “My fellow Americans.” This is what YAF does with activism. The Cemetery of Innocents used plain white crosses, mimicking the evocative image of gravesites, arousing an emotional reaction with its audience. Whether the reaction of passers by was positive or negative, the reaction was still emotional, hence the controversy. YAF’s standpoint is that abortion takes lives, hence crosses, which evoke the image of a cemetery. The goal of the demonstration was to make YAF’s standpoint heard, whether you agree or disagree. YAF succeeded.

We must remember that YAF gives equal thought and energy to bring in speakers to discuss issues academically as it does to activism. Thus YAF nods to ethos and logos while maintaining pathos. It is not YAF lacks education, but the student body.

Peter Horan is the Director of Membership for the GW Chapter of Young America's Foundation.

Last week, the GW Hatchet wrote a feature piece about GWYAF.  The article can be found here.