The Baraga freshman said he is confused by the word "freedom" in the conservative group's title, because he thinks their actions promote the exact opposite.

"It's like I can't be free to be who I am, so you're for freedom?" Warwick said. "I don't understand. I don't get it."

YAF recently has come under scrutiny because of a protest in Lansing, during which members of the MSU chapter of YAF yielded signs that were reported by the State News to have said things such as "Straight Power." Lansing officials discussed an ordinance that would prohibit discrimination against people based on things such as sexual orientation.

Heidi Beirich, a spokeswoman for the Southern Poverty Law Center, said a reporter called and said members of YAF had said some things that led her department to begin investigating the group as a potential hate group.

This would place them alongside such groups as the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis and Skinheads in the SPLC's quarterly Intelligence Report.

"We're not a hateful group"

"Groups they (SPLC) deem offensive are mainstream organizations," said Dennis Lennox II, president of the CMU chapter of YAF and Topinabee sophomore. "Look at our alumni list. We're not a hateful group."

YAF's alumni include former President Ronald Reagan and former Vice President Dan Quayle.

Beirich said although the SPLC has yet to officially declare YAF as a hate group, it has made a file on it and a decision will be made sometime in April.

She said there had been reports of YAF members involved in hateful activities.

"Things like calling people 'faggot' and things like that are beyond the realm of appropriate behavior," Beirich said.

Kyle Bristow, YAF chairman at MSU, is confident YAF will not be added to the Intelligence Report as a hate group.

"I highly doubt that they will, because they (SPLC) will only be seen by mainstream groups as being anti-conservative," Bristow said.

Bristow said the SPLC's opinion on whether YAF is a hate group is just their opinion, and he questioned who they were to decide what a hate group is.

He said the SPLC has a hate group list in order to intimidate conservatives from voicing their opinions, but Beirich disagreed.

"What we're looking for is, do they support an ideology that discriminates an entire group of people based on their group characteristics?" Beirich said.

The Office of Student Life at CMU regulates the different Registered Student Organizations on campus. Tom Idema, assistant director of Student Life, said the SPLC's impending decision on the YAF will have little impact on its status as an RSO at CMU.

"We don't label groups as hate groups, but we do have policies that groups have to go through to be considered an RSO," Idema said. "(YAF) wouldn't lose their status unless they violated any of our policies."

Those policies include the ones spelled out in the student code of conduct and RSO manual.

One policy RSOs must follow is not to discriminate in their membership, Idema said, but someone would have to file a complaint for the Office of Student Life to investigate.

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