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Beauty pageant contestants are often written off when it comes to their thoughts on world problems and how to solve them, but not Justine Brooke Murray. The Miss New Jersey contestant took a stand against censorship during this week’s pageant.
“Our generation is experiencing an epidemic of censorship and entitlement, and it’s because our professors and our celebrities are teaching students to be narcissists, to believe that any view that differs from their own is an existential threat,” said Murray, a former White House intern, PragerU influencer, and Campus Reform correspondent. “This is what I experienced on my own campus with censorship to the point where people believe that speech is violence so that they can threaten other people with violence simply because they disagree with them.”
Murray graduated from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University with a major in political science. It was during her time at Syracuse that Murray was founding chair of the university’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter and the former Chief of Staff for the New York Federation of College Republicans. It was these and other situations that gave Murray a love for free speech.
“It is listed first under the Bill of Rights for a reason,” Murray told judges. “Without it, all other liberties crumble but today we’re watching free speech get hammered to the ground by the very institutions that are supposed to promote diversity of thought.”
Murray went on to tell students, teachers, and anyone else listening that the mere words “I’m offended” are now being used as an excuse to silence students, fire professors, and cancel people simply because they do not toe the popular line of thought.
“Through the Miss America organization, I will promote Miss New Jersey as Miss New Jersey by empowering the voices of young women who are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in and become a voice to be reckoned with.”
“It’s refreshing to hear young people promote freedom of speech when it’s under attack everyday from our leaders, teachers, and peers,” Kara Zupkus, spokeswoman for Young America’s Foundation told ToddStarnes.com. “We are glad that the founding chairwoman of Syracuse Young Americans for Freedom used her platform to take a stand against political correctness, and hope others are inspired to get involved in the Movement.”
Murray was competing in Miss New Jersey as Miss Northern Highlands.
“I did not win (Miss New Jersey), and I didn’t even place, but I would have not changed a single word,” Murray tweeted after the pageant.