Comradeship // Freechat

Assuming you decide to meet with them, here's some things that occurred to me.

1. Have you been documenting the things they've said to you? Are they communicating in digital/written formats? Having those receipts will be useful if you decide to try to take this show more public, or to threaten it.

2. You are in a tough spot, they have the power to keep you off the premises ~~and the legal right to do so~~ as I understand it. (Edit: talked to my partner, I understood wrong, there's a good chance they're bluffing apparently). However you have something they want, and that they can only get from you. They want this to blow over, you can figure out what that means to them and bargain with them about it. It almost certainly doesn't mean headlines where a promising high school senior isn't allowed to attend graduation because of their political views. Take their offer to 'resolve the conflict' seriously, I strongly suspect they want this to go away in the least obstructive way they can get it.

These people also weren't born yesterday, there's a reason they're doing the same thing to you that they did to your friend- getting you alone makes it easier to get someone in a key position to flip on important demands. Meeting with them is an opportunity for both sides to try to get what they want in a less confrontational way, and the admin folks have experience talking young people into the correct position. If you agree to meet you will want to have a game plan with your parents and clear red lines you are not willing to cross, guiding principles to keep you from getting derailed in talks. But think hard about what those lines are, because if you get totally boxed out of campus and away from the people you're helping organize that's not really a win for you. Some things might need to be compromised on for the sake of bigger goals.

3. Assuming these people are mostly liberals, they see themselves as valuing speech and civic participation. They believe they want to train the next generation to be conscientious involved citizens. Exploit that belief. You want to express yourself. You have strong political beliefs. There is almost certainly some version of group expression they would accept, if/when you meet ask them what they think is an appropriate way for students to advocate for their political views. Show you're interested in getting your views out there and that you are willing to assess the merits of different ways of doing that.

If their proposal is not acceptable to you, allude diplomatically to points 1 and 2: You can make this a bigger problem for them, or you can make this go away less painfully for them. Are there alternatives you would accept as a win? Advocate for those, try to propose actions that keep the people you've organized on side but will be more tolerable to the admin if they won't budge.

4. As difficult as they are being, you will get further if you seem like you're operating in good faith and being reasonable. Insist on things that you can pitch to liberals, appeal to values you know they believe themselves to hold. They have cards here, they have the more or less unlimited capability to keep you off premises. You have cards too, play well and I think you can negotiate something, which will demonstrate you're serious to the admin and also make them less afraid of you and what you might do because you're behaving in a way they understand.

Good luck, comrade. I join everyone else here in admiring your work and commitment.