David Jesse

Detroit Free Press

Professors at the University of Michigan should be calling Grant Strobl “His Majesty.”

Not because the junior is royalty, but because Strobl took advantage of a policy change by the university allowing students to change their personal pronouns to anything they wanted.

Strobl’s move — done to draw attention to what he thinks is the absurdity of the policy — landed him on Fox News and filled his Twitter timeline with tweets that were congratulatory – “His Majesty Grant Strobl, I salute thee for thine clever wit. Thou hast brought to light the folly of thine liberal overlords,” user Jon M. tweeted and not so happy — “why does this option irk you so much you have to be rude? It harms no one and helps many LGBT folks,” user Liz? wrote.

But national attention is nothing new to him. As the national chairman of Young Americans for Freedom, he’s used to being in the spotlight. And yes, he does chuckle a bit about having the head of a prominent conservative group come from a university known for its attraction to liberal causes.

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“Most of my professors know me and what I believe,” he told the Free Press recently. “The professors who know me are a lot more respectful of my beliefs. I’ve had great relationships with my professors. I only had to drop one class because the professor wasn’t respectful of my beliefs.

“When I graduate, I will sit back and smile and say I made a difference. I lived what the university means by the leaders and best.”

Strobl got his start in politics before college, when he and his mom worked to get a candidate elected in the state Legislature. Then, as a student at Grosse Pointe North High, Strobl invited conservative Steve Forbes to speak. That decision caused all sorts of controversy, but Strobl refused to give up.

“I learned the negative effects of bureaucracy,” he said. “I also learned the school district was more political than I thought. I thought I was doing a service by bringing Forbes to talk. It definitely made me a cynic.”

By then, Strobl was already a member of Young Americans for Freedom, a group that was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. and a group of young conservatives in 1961. It promotes to youth the principles of limited government, individual freedom, free enterprise, a strong national defense and traditional values, the group says on its website.

He has been named one of the top conservative activists in the country for five years, according to YAF’s Club 100, and has topped that list for four of those years. His chapter was named “Chapter of the Year” in 2015, and Grant topped YAF’s list of “young conservative student activists who brought real change to this country in 2015.”

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He hasn’t been a shrinking violet on U-M’s campus, either. He was heavily involved when the university decided to cancel a showing of “American Sniper” after some Muslim students complained about the movie. After an outcry, including football coach Jim Harbaugh tweeting his support, the film was shown.

The flap over the movie was just one example of how universities across the country aren’t protecting freedom of speech, Strobl said.

"(Universities) need to think about their decisions before they rush in to cancel something,”‘ he said. “I don’t think (U-M’s) intention is to hurt freedom of expression. It’s to please people, but that can lead to problems they don’t foresee.”

He also organized a debate between commentator Dinesh D’Souza and activist Bill Ayers, and hosted lectures by Ben Shapiro, Jonah Goldberg, and other conservative leaders.

Despite taking a full load of classes — he’s set to graduate in 2018 with majors in international studies (political economy and development) and political science with a minor in German — he was happy to step up to lead the YAF board. He wants to focus on making sure freedom of speech is protected on campuses.

“Too frequently, the conservative viewpoint is being squashed,” he said.

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Those he works with say Strobl is in an important position.

“Student activists need student leaders,” said Young America’s Foundation President Ron Robinson. “The responsibility that comes with the chairmanship of YAF, including its multimillion-dollar budget and network of thousands of activists, makes Grant the most important undergraduate in the country — a role for which he is remarkably well-prepared.”

And down the road? Law school.

To do what? “I want to help protect our conservative values.”

Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or djesse@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @reporterdavidj