Tuesday, Feb. 4, the University of Tennessee College Republicans posted a screenshot of the University Center for Health and Wellness’s “Consent Is” campaign T-shirts on their Instagram story with the caption, “These shirts are so gay and libtard coded. Wait until marriage!”
This post has received scrutiny and backlash from the student body and alumni.
Following this, a screenshot of the College Republicans’ Instagram story was posted on UT’s subreddit with the caption, “The level of unprofessionalism is unacceptable, use of homophobia, attacking the official university Instagram, and no less about body autonomy. There needs to be action taken against organizations like these that are officially registered yet are actively making the community feel less safe.”
The post received over 200 replies before the moderators of the subreddit locked it, but the general consensus was disgust from sexual assault survivors, alumni and the campus community. Users asked how they could file a report to Student Conduct and Community Standards, and many users claimed to have submitted reports and emailed various campus officials.
Reddit user InsaneXynN_YT commented, “Absolutely disgusting, rude and disturbing. Emailing student conduct as we speak.”
“We just wanted to show that we’re willing to criticize them beyond the safety of anonymity,” Jordan Lamb, a senior studying political science, said. “It’s easy to spew harmful rhetoric from the comfort of one’s keyboard, but much harder to have the courage to answer your critics face-to-face.”
Student Conduct and Community Services responded to Lamb’s complaint submission.
“We understand these events elicit a range of emotions and perspectives along with feelings of discomfort,” Ciara Gazaway, the program director for the Office of the Dean of Students, said in an email. “Despite what took place, we continue to encourage respectful discourse and open dialogue. At UT, we champion the principles of free expression, encouraging our students and campus community to openly voice their opinions, whether in support or against various actions or viewpoints. By law, students and student organizations are able to express themselves freely on social media.”
A campus organization student leader with the Reddit username Synasticks also shared their opinion about the post.
“As a person who is a student leader in a campus org, we are trained to not discriminate any cases of beliefs, values, gender, religion, or ideology. This is insane that some student body, who has access to their account, is willing to post that for who knows what (ragebait? Starting a fight?),” Synasticks said.
They also questioned if the post was rage bait, which — as defined by Collins Dictionary — is content designed to elicit anger to increase internet traffic or engagement.
However, some users rebutted the user’s complaints by questioning the post’s authenticity or defending the College Republicans’ right to free speech. Reddit user superpie12 wrote, “I will be sending an email in support (of) their free speech.”
On Feb. 5, the College Republicans posted a follow-up post on their Instagram story of the UT’s Student Code of Conduct’s section that protects students’ constitutional right to free speech with the caption of a laughing and finger-pointing emoticon.
Students who submitted a complaint to Student Conduct and Community Services allegedly received similar responses, citing the organization’s right to free speech.
Free speech is an important area of interest to the University of Tennessee College Republicans. They claim on their 2024-25 interest form to be a “contrary and often isolated voice on a Tennessee campus.”
The College Republicans also wrote that by “fighting for free speech, we provide students with an outlet for their perspective and a social support network that does not require them to censor their truth to avoid being socially ostracized.”
The College Republicans hold meetings weekly on Thursday nights, and as the story developed, many students expressed interest in attending the meeting to share their viewpoints on the controversial behavior.
A screenshot of the College Republicans responding to backlash from their previous story posts. Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025.
On Feb. 6, the College Republicans posted another Instagram story asking, “Are there any normal straight guys that are offended or is it all just washed women and effeminate men.”
Oliver Dattilo, a freshman geology major who identifies as a straight male, responded to this.
“They are the ones who are offended by the concept of consent before anyone else. ‘Normal’ people ask for consent anyway,” Dattilo said.
Following this questioning of the reactions to the original post, the College Republicans wrote on their Instagram story that the original post was rage bait and utilized this admission to question the Center for Health and Wellness’s motives for producing the “Consent is” project T-shirts from a Christian viewpoint.
A screenshot of the College Republican's responding to backlash on their Instagram story for their previous posts.
The College Republicans wrote, “The problem lies not in consent as a concept but consent as a moral replacement to a licit sexual morality, which is the covenant between man and a woman in the sacrament of marriage governed by Jesus Christ.”
“I think that the use of Christianity as a shield against bigoted viewpoints is against the teachings of Christ,” Carver Dickens, a sociology major, said. “He told us to love our neighbors. You can be a Christian and push progressive ideals. Insulting people for being for consent is against the teachings of Christ.”
Some students agreed that it could have been rage bait.
“I concur with the purported theory that the rage bait allegation is a cop-out,” Airic Rosenbalm, a senior studying history, said. “It’s clear he’s trying to make this a deal, and he believes what he said.”
Although College Republicans have referenced Christian ideology in response to the backlash to their comments, in the College Republicans constitution and by-laws, the College Republicans do not have an official religious standpoint and even write that members should not be limited based on their religious beliefs.
The College Republicans were initially scheduled to meet at Humanities and Social Sciences 106 from 6-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 6. However, the organization changed the time and location of the meeting without publicly announcing the change.
Nick Gass, leader of the Swashbucklers Guild, announced the meeting time and location change on his Instagram story. Gass wrote, “Ahoy mateys! I were listenin’ to a sirens song earlier, and she told me that the mateys moved their meetin’. It be held in Walter M401 from either 5-6 or 6-7:30.”
However, the College Republicans group did not show up for either of these registered time slots or the room they booked in Humanities and Social Sciences.
Gass discovered the location through 25Live, a website registered student organizations can use to register event space for their groups.
“I’ve always believed that if you have beliefs, you should stand by them, not hide behind a facade, so I figured, at the very least, people should know where they meet. … I think changing the location is a coward’s move,” Gass said.
A group of students waited outside HSS 106, where the College Republicans were expected to meet. Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025.
Bridget Hanlon Waldron, a junior studying biological sciences, was one of the students who waited 2.5 hours for one of College Republicans’ scheduled meetings.
“I think it’s telling of their character that they would say something that is so knowingly polarizing and then not show up to either of their meeting rooms,” Waldron said. “It shows that they are not actually as confident in what they say they believe.”
On Feb. 7, the day after the meeting was scheduled to occur, the College Republicans posted on their Instagram story “Great meeting tonight — so close College Dems!” No one discovered the meeting location, as it was unregistered on 25Live.
College Republicans did not respond to requests for comments, and the Center for Health and Wellness declined to comment on the matter.
