Lakie Derrick, now 21, first traveled less than 30 miles to attend East Tennessee State University (ETSU) in the fall of 2020. She had always known her hometown of Kingsport, Tennessee, to be a relatively conservative city.
In 2016, the two counties that contain Kingsport – Sullivan and Hawkins – overwhelmingly voted to elect Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States. Washington County, where ETSU is located, did the same that year and supported Trump again in 2020. Davidson and Shelby were the only two Tennessee counties held “blue” through the 2022 gubernatorial election.
For Derrick, ETSU was close to home and, most importantly, affordable. She worked to pay for school for herself, earning scholarships and working a part-time job so she could earn an undergraduate degree. She knew the environment on a college campus would be different from that of her upbringing.
But nothing prepared Derrick (pictured above) for the opposition and hostility she faced when she set foot on campus, she told The Tennessee Star. Across four years of attending ETSU, she was confronted with student activist bullies, regular faculty opposition, anonymous threats, and a social media account dedicated to ruining her reputation.
The reason for the sustained hostilities, Derrick said, was that she stood up for her beliefs as a conservative Christian.
Overwhelming Liberalism Confronts Derrick
On Derrick’s first day of class at ETSU, her English teacher asked her whether the Bible condemns abortion. She answered the question, drawing from her Christian education and upbringing, but from then on, she knew she would have to fight to defend her beliefs against her own educators.
Less than an hour’s drive from where she was raised, the closest public university’s student body had organized into groups promoting LGBTQ identities and “democratic socialism.”
Derrick held an interest in religion and politics from a young age, so, seeing her peers and professors display open hostility toward her worldview, she involved herself in conservative student activism. She was elected vice president of the school’s newly-formed chapter of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) the following semester.
She told The Star that she joined because she was attracted to TPUSA’s mission to “educate” and “empower” students, something she felt she was called to do.
“Just because you’re in Tennessee, you absolutely still do not have a God-fearing faculty and staff that is the norm at a college campus,” she said. “The overall majority of all my teachers have been extremely liberal.”
“But then, the more I thought about it, none of these teachers were from here,” she said. “So I think one of the big problems is we have these big public universities, is all these teachers from all over the country that don’t share the same values or belief systems of Tennesseans.”
Left-leaning students had also infiltrated and influenced otherwise politically neutral organizations, Derrick continued.
Nonetheless, Derrick had no problem with outing herself as a Christian conservative, she said. Derrick saw it as an opportunity for constructive discussion.
Changing Hostile Minds
While tabling on campus for TPUSA, Derrick was approached by an older-looking man. He walked toward the table, loudly cursed at Derrick, and walked away.
“That [encounter] has always stuck out in my mind because it showed me that they’re not here to talk to you,” she said. “Because if you really believe that somebody is a racist, a bigot, a fascist, a transphobe, a homophobe… then you can’t talk to them because they have nothing of value to say.”
But Derrick continued to converse with students and debate with professors in the hopes that someone would listen and change their mind.
In November 2022, TPUSA invited a pro-life activism organization called the Center for Bioethical Reform to visit ETSU. The center regularly visits college campuses and displays graphic images of abortion procedures to prompt discussion among students.
During this event, Derrick and some of her colleagues from TPUSA stood close to the center’s images and were surrounded by angry students, she said. No one was harmed, but this event appeared to spark a number of online attacks targeted at Derrick and other TPUSA students.
“[sic] what if i mace the turning point girls,” read one message on Yik Yak, according to a screenshot obtained by The Star. Yik Yak is a social media application that organizes users, all of whom are anonymous, into groups based on a common location or interest.
“[sic] there’s a difference in free speech and hate speech so i personally hope turning point eats sh**,” another Yik Yak message said.
Similar messages and comments appeared when TPUSA posted plans for other events.
“Oh look [sic] Turning Point USA is mad because they got called out on a transphobic movie they are showing,” read one Yik Yak message in a screenshot obtained by The Star. The message was in reference to TPUSA at ETSU’s screening of the documentary What is a Woman? starring conservative commentator Matt Walsh. “You may have freedom of speech, [sic] doesn’t mean you have freedom from the consequences.”
“You guys should look into the benefits of ending one’s own life,” read one comment on an Instagram post for TPUSA’s upcoming event hosting conservative speaker Kyle Rittenhouse at ETSU, according to a screenshot obtained by The Star. That post has since been deleted.
Derrick, though shaken, was encouraged by other responses to the Center for Bioethical Reform’s visit.
“We had students who really did listen,” she said. Derrick talked to girls, one of whom Derrick said had her mind changed “completely,” and another who started questioning her beliefs.
Derrick Targeted Online
Derrick and a friend from TPUSA started the Instagram page Unfazed Conservatives in August 2023, where the two publish content promoting conservative Christian values and providing political commentary.
However, in January 2024, an Instagram account with the username @notphasedcommentary began posting in direct response to Unfazed Conservatives. The account is operated under the apparent pseudonyms “Rayquelle and Laykeigh,” which appear to mirror the names of Derrick and her friend Rachel Mehl, who operate Unfazed Conservatives.
Every post from @notphasedcommentary names either Derrick or Mehl, but recent posts have targeted Derrick specifically.
“Dear Lakie,” a graphic from @notphasedcommentary’s most recent post reads, “The ETSU Counseling Center has availability. Self Awareness is a skill you could still develop. Although, in your case you probably need a professional’s help.”
In another post, the pseudonymous account accused Derrick of hypocrisy for condemning pornography but publicly enjoying a popular fantasy novel series that contains some sexually explicit content.
“I know that people will be like, ‘Well, why do you even read that in the first place?’” Derrick said about the books. “But I’m strictly there for the plot.”
Online Student Bullies Confronted
Derrick said she felt the amount of online bullying she suffered demanded a response from ETSU in January 2024.
“I don’t think they need to be arrested,” Derrick told The Star when asked why she did not contact local law enforcement about the harassment she experienced. “My main thing is I just wanted the school to take the most action against them because there did need to be some type of accountability for them.”
ETSU issued warnings to three students that they were prohibited from all contact with Derrick, whether in person, by phone, internet, social media, text, mail, email, or messages delivered through a third party on January 17, 2024, according to a screenshot of one warning obtained by The Star. Violation of the warning “could result in institutional disciplinary judicial action being taken against the violator.”
Derrick said attending ETSU has been difficult since her first day of classes, and she was glad to see the school take action in this instance.
The Star contacted ETSU to discuss Derrick’s experience as a student, but the school would not comment on her situation specifically.
“The university strives to be a place where all students feel safe, supported, and free to express their ideas,” an ETSU spokesperson said in a statement to The Star. “While disagreement is to be expected and can even be healthy, harassment and threats of violence are not tolerable. I would encourage any student who feels they are in danger to contact our public safety office. Students who feel they are being discriminated against or harassed should file a complaint with our office of compliance. Additionally, the university offers free mental health resources and services to students, which may be of assistance in coping with some of the hostility often found online.”
Fostering Conversations
“I never want to be antagonistic,” Derrick said when asked about the responses she gets from students she discusses her beliefs with. “I really am trying to foster conversations.”
Derrick said she has had left-leaning students reach out to her to tell her they do not approve of how she and other TPUSA students are treated for their beliefs.
“It was very eye-opening that the work that I’ve done for my time in college has really not been in vain,” she said.
“We took [TPUSA at ETSU] from zero to a club that is vibrant and well known at ETSU in the surrounding communities,” Derrick continued. “And we have just grown it into something that is going to be at ETSU for a long time… So it’s like my baby, y’know. I think it’s grown into a nice, mature young lady.”
Derrick holds an ambitious vision for her future. She said she wants to become a political strategist or analyst, write legislation, run for state-level office, represent Tennessee in the U.S. Senate, and eventually “completely upend Washington, brick by brick, and rebuild it to be something that is America First.”
“And I know that the reason I’m even doing this in the first place is because God has called me to this,” Derrick continued. “Otherwise, I’d play intramurals.”
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Matthew Giffin is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Matthew on X / Twitter.
