Of course, if student funds were ever used for a conservative cause it’d be a federal case.

Allison Hanson reports at the College Fix.

Calif. students’ funds used to push left-wing causes

ANALYSIS

The motto of the California Public Interest Research Group – a student run, student directed and student funded lobbying group – is “standing up to powerful interests,” but some conservative students say they are frustrated that the group focuses largely on left-wing causes and is not upfront about it, either.

Campaigns listed on CALPIRG’s website largely attack big businesses and support onerous environmentalism, leading some students to assert it does not represent all students. Moreover, some students say they feel it’s unfair the group has access to classrooms to ask students for support to push their progressive agenda.

“I was frustrated with the fact that CALPIRG was permitted to market their money-making scam, when this time should be used for teaching,” Leesa Danzek, a junior at the University of Southern California who recently heard the group’s classroom presentation, told The College Fix. “The student spokesperson came in to push for support of a liberal agenda organization at the financial expense of students, and I found it to be wildly inappropriate.”

CALPIRG, a non-profit organization, sends representatives to scout on college campuses, and they are allowed to visit some classrooms to that end. During such presentations, CALPIRG reps hand out “pledge cards,” inviting students to release their name, cell phone number and email address to be plugged into their network. It sounds innocuous and all for a good cause, but whether students fully understand the group’s agenda before they sign on the dotted line is unclear.

Making matters worse, joining the network includes roughly $10 per semester in “dues,” money collected on tuition bills using info obtained on the pledge cards, something not all students may realize at the time.