National conservative advocacy group Young America’s Foundation (YAF) filed a civil rights complaint against Davidson College on behalf of two alumni, Cynthia Huang ’25 and Hannah Fay ’25. The complaint alleges that Davidson unfairly treated Huang and Fay in such a way that both “bore the discrimination from anti-Israel students and officials along with, or on behalf of, their Jewish classmates.” In a piece published by The Daily Signal, the two demand Davidson be held accountable for alleged Title VI and Title IX violations and call for the College’s federal funding to be revoked.

The complaint rests upon an incident that occurred on Oct. 7, 2024. Davidson’s Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) chapter, of which Huang was president at the time, hosted a “Stand with Israel” project where pamphlets titled “The Five Myths About Israel Perpetrated by the Pro-Hamas Left” were distributed. 

Associate Professor of Political Science Silvana Toska, an expert in Middle East Politics, explained that the pamphlet was misleading. “[The pamphlet contains] randomly selected and poorly contextualized quotes to make a case against both Palestine and Islam more broadly. It is not factually correct, it is discriminatory against Palestinians, and it is Islamophobic,” Toska wrote in an email to The Davidsonian. 

The pamphlet also inaccurately represents the history of Israeli-Palestinian relations. “I would add that it does no service to Israel—despite its intention—because it selects only quotes that emphasize Israeli leaders’ disdain for Palestinians, rather than the more complex history of interactions between the two peoples,” Toska continued.

In the middle of YAF’s Oct. 7 memorial, Huang and Fay reported that Davidson administrators required the pamphlets be removed because students felt “unsafe” due to their Islamaphobic content. Soon after, Director of Student Rights & Responsibilities Mak Tompkins notified Huang of a potential Code of Responsibility violation and asked YAF to have a conversation to discuss the incident. 

This incident directly led to the civil rights complaint, which was mainly filed on the grounds of antisemitism. While neither Huang nor Fay are Jewish, they allege, according to the complaint, that in representing the Jewish community, they themselves faced ethnic and religious discrimination. 

Davidson Jewish Student Union (JSU) Co-Presidents Sylvia Cevallos ’26 and Samuel Franklin ’26 said the YAF memorial and complaint does not accurately speak for Davidson’s Jewish community. 

“[YAF is] filing a lawsuit on behalf of Jewish students, but doing so not as representatives or 

members of the Davidson Jewish community, and without the ability to properly understand what that entails,” Franklin said.

Cevallos echoed Franklin’s sentiment. “The Jewish experience is such a unique experience, and deciding that you can speak for experiences you’ve never had is really not appropriate and not fair to the Jewish voices on campus,” Cevallos said.

JSU declined to co-sponsor YAF’s Oct. 7 memorial, instead focusing on their own event. Cevallos and Franklin denied the complaint’s accusation that Davidson administrators perpetrate antisemitism. “President Hicks has been so supportive of JSU. He’s always attending the Seder and we’ve had Shabbat at his house. He does his best to extend his support directly to JSU,” Cevallos said.

Huang and Fay cited other incidents that played a part in their anger toward Davidson—many of which were portrayed inaccurately. For example, the two argue that “when leftist groups wanted to bring California Gov. Gavin Newsom to campus, they had no problem getting a swift response.” 

That account is inaccurate, according to Davidson Democrats Co-President Julia Fitzgerald ’26. 

“Governor Gavin Newsom could have spoken on campus in his capacity as Governor of California, but he would not have been permitted to discuss or endorse his role in the 2024 Harris-Walz Presidential Campaign. To comply with [College] regulations and allow him to speak about the campaign, the Davidson College Democrats moved the event off campus. As a result, Governor Newsom’s visit was not sponsored by Davidson College,” Fitzgerald wrote in an email to The Davidsonian.

However, YAF’s events are hosted in College spaces which means they are subject to approval by the Student Activities Office. YAF has misconstrued facts for political gain before. 

Burt Folsom is Distinguished Fellow at Hillsdale College and YAF’s longest-serving speaker. He was slated to speak at Davidson in 2018 but technical difficulties delayed his speech. Despite the interlude, Folsom eventually spoke to gathered students. However, YAF’s Chief Communications Officer, Spencer Brown, appeared on Fox News a few hours later claiming the event never took place and accused Davidson of censoring conservative speech. 

Joe DeMartin ’21 was on Davidson YAF’s board at the time. “[Brown] never actually discussed anything that he was going to say with the Davidson chapter. The truth didn’t matter; what mattered was pushing this preferred narrative that this national organization had, that its students were under immense threat of censorship,” DeMartin said.

Nationally, YAF is assisting Huang and Fay with their suit. Brown released a statement on Oct. 16 detailing YAF’s involvement. He also published a PDF file of the complaint. 

The Davidson chapter has had no direct involvement with the complaint, according to YAF President Caroline Wilutis ’26. “On a personal level, I definitely support what they’re doing. But speaking for YAF, as a part of Davidson, we aren’t really related to it. So far this year YAF has had no problems with the school.” 

Discourse on campus surrounding the lawsuit has been speculatory and College administrators have offered limited communication regarding the suit. The President’s Office refused to comment. Director of Media Relations Jay Pfeifer was dismissive of the complaint.  

“The complaint by the two former students is without merit. While students, they and the referenced organization received the same treatment as other student organizations, including those that took the opposing view on the Gaza conflict. Davidson takes seriously its obligation to create a non-discriminatory campus environment and we comply with federal civil rights laws, including Title VI and Title IX,” Pfeifer wrote in an email to The Davidsonian.

Pfeifer forwarded a link to Communication Studies Professor and The Davidsonian advisor Issac Bailey’s article entitled “I Know Speech is Protected at Davidson College. I See it all the Time” for additional context. Bailey, a staunch free speech advocate, said the case lacks merit.

“The YAF pamphlet and retweet did not constitute harassment. But the College had an obligation to look into student complaints about those things. And the College does not single out and try to silence conservatives. That was a tense time, and students with a variety of ideological views were being challenged, not just those involved with YAF,” Bailey said.