Double Whammy! Freshman Tricked Into Joining Both Salt Co. and Iowa YAF

It’s one thing to fall victim to one of the numerous predatory student organizations on campus, but two?! Well, that’s what happened to freshman Samantha Wise.

Wise attended the Fall Engagement Fair last Wednesday because she wanted to get involved around her new college. She toured Hubbard Park, taking note of all the student orgs that seemed of interest to her.

One of those organizations was Salt Co., a group that immediately invited her to a house party, which she excitedly accepted. What else is a freshman with no friends supposed to do when a large group of senior men invite her to their function? Of course she’d accept!

The other org that stuck out to her was Iowa YAF, a group that asked if she was interested in expressing “free speech.” Of course she is! Who wouldn’t be? Wise is an art major, which is all about free speech and expressing yourself and stuff, right? Iowa YAF sounded right up her alley.

So Wise found herself in two GroupMe’s for her new memberships in Salt Co. and Iowa YAF.

That night, Wise attended the house party that the men at Salt Co. invited her to. All seemed well: she was mingling with lots of freshmen women and senior men, having a few pops. For a moment, she thought she succeeded at socializing in college. She made it in with the cool kids! That is until one of the men, senior John Miller, asked her how she felt about Jesus Christ.

Wise told Miller that she was raised Muslim, but she isn’t very religious. Miller’s eyes widened and he told her he’d never met a real Muslim before. Apparently, he wasn’t sure if they really existed. Miller then asked Wise if she’d accept Jesus into her heart. She politely declined, which is when he started to become hostile, telling her she was leeching off Salt Co. by coming to their party and not also wanting to come to church with them.

Wise soon left the party understanding she wasn’t welcome there as someone who isn’t interested in Christianity.

Unsure of what to do, Wise figured she could text her new friends at Iowa YAF to support her! She could tell them that a group of Christians scolded her for being Muslim, and surely, as the “free speech” student org, they’d be more than supportive.

Wise opened the Iowa YAF GroupMe, and her expression quickly turned from hope to horror when she discovered how often they liked to use slurs. She was confused about how one student org could be hateful to every minority group in America all at once, but alas!

Wise left the GroupMe and vowed to never join a student org ever again. She would just be a friendless loner for the next four years.