Young Americans for Freedom, an organization founded by William F. Buckley Jr. that boasts a presence on college campuses across the country, has lost its Baylor University chapter over their perceived protection of corporate interests at the expense of the American people.

Zachary Miller, former chairman of the Baylor Young Americans for Freedom, believes that YAF has lost its way by advocating for policies that harm the American worker and the cause of liberty.

According to a letter written by Miller and sent to YAF Executive Director Kyle Ferrebee, the board of the Baylor YAF voted unanimously to disassociate themselves from the national organization and will now call themselves the “Baylor Bull Moose Society.”

“This decision is the result of discussions which preceded but were ultimately concluded by your revocation of my YAF membership on January 8, 2021 citing ideological differences,” Miller says.

“When I started this chapter, I committed to making it a place where conservatives could learn about and express ideas that served to further the common good of the American people. In light of your recent acts of aggression against our chapter, it has become clear that YAF has no tolerance for conservatives concerned with the furtherance of said good.”

“Our goal is to promote conservative ideas which aid the American worker, preserve and promote the American family, uplift the poor and downtrodden, and ensure that Americans of traditional Christian faith can freely serve God. We have no interest in promoting a corporatist conservatism which is chiefly concerned with protecting the interests of wealthy progressives intent on destroying this sacred American way of life.”

“In this period of unprecedented agglomeration of corporate power, YAF has decided to advocate for the protection of said power and profits to the detriment of working Americans and the common good of our polity. Any conservative who dares to object is attacked and ostracized.”

“The future does not belong to those who cling desperately to the dead consensus,” Miller continues. “We will not return to the days of free trade absolutism, unrestricted immigration, endless foreign wars, and stagnant wages. We will not return to a corporatist conservatism which openly disdains the very Americans it relies on for power. The future belongs to those conservatives who understand that the chief aim of our movement ought to be the preservation and promotion of the liberty and welfare of everyday Americans.”

The entire letter can be read here. The name “Bull Moose Society” is based on a nickname for Theodore Roosevelt, whom Miller quotes in his letter as follows: “Our aim is not to do away with corporations… we are merely determined that they shall be so handled as to subserve the public good. We draw the line against misconduct, not against wealth.”

Roosevelt famously said after losing the Republican presidential nomination in 1912 that he felt as “strong as a bull moose.” The Progressive Party, on whose ticket Roosevelt ran for president that year, was nicknamed the “Bull Moose Party.”