STAND with Kelly and Niki Tshibaka

#23: Stevie & Gloria Giorno

Kelly Tshibaka and Niki Tshibaka

Gloria Giorno and her son Stevie join us this week with Stevie’s story of  facing ostracism for his conservative views at Belmont University. Stevie's journey as student body president reveals the harsh realities of cancel culture infiltrating academic circles. For Gloria, the struggle is deeply personal, with her family's escape from communism in Yugoslavia casting a long shadow over her drive to protect the freedoms we often take for granted.

The psychological warfare endured by Stevie, necessitating campus escorts between classes and threats to his fraternity membership, underscores the chilling ripple effects of ideological conformity. Gloria's relentless quest for campus safety and transparency at Belmont is a sobering reminder of the stakes involved when a mother fights for her child's well-being amidst political discord.

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Kelly Tshibaka:

Welcome to another episode of Stand, where we resist cancel culture, like Joan of Arc resisted the English. I'm Kelly Tshibaka and I'm here today, as always, with my favorite co-host and husband, Niki Tshibaka. Just a friendly reminder you can subscribe to our show on YouTube at the Stand Show, or hit subscribe to the podcast platform of your choice and anyone who wants to join our chorus and crowd of standouts in our friendly community that makes this show happen. Please do share the show with a friend or family member who you think would love to be part of the standout community. We are not silent about the things that matter, so you can join us too. We are on social media under Kelly for Alaska, and if you want to be that lucky audience member who wins a free Hydro Flask sticker from Stand, make sure to leave a review. We will be picking a lucky audience member this week and we'd love for you to be that person, so please leave a review. As always, we have a'd love for you to be that person, so please leave a review. As always, we have a great show for you today. We have promised we will bring on national leaders, entrepreneurs, authors and also everyday Americans who do extraordinary things, and that's what we have in store for you today.

Kelly Tshibaka:

We're joined by Gloria Giorno and her son, Stevie, and they're going to tell their story about how wokeism at Stevie's University tried to silence him, and they failed. That's the exciting story. But Stevie chose to stand and speak out. So, even in the face of threats to his safety and his life, they stood firm and they were not able to cancel him. His family stood with him. It's truly an incredibly and inspiring story that we're going to get to hear.

Kelly Tshibaka:

But first a little bit about these two. Stevie is a recent graduate of Belmont University, where all of this happened. He was president of the student body, elected with over 95% of the vote, and today he's chairman of the Tennessee Young Republicans. I've also been told he's the youngest person ever to serve as the second vice chair for the Republican Party not just the young Republicans of Williamson County, where he lives. His mom, gloria, is a first-generation American. Her parents immigrated to the US from what was once the communist nation of Yugoslavia.

Kelly Tshibaka:

Gloria is the founder and president of United Women Foundation, an organization that mentors and awards college scholarships to women who are conservative female students. She's also the author of a book we're going to talk about today. It's called Outcast, how the Radical Left Tried to Destroy a Young Conservative. So you can find it. You know pretty much wherever books are sold on the Internet. We're looking forward to talking to you today about that book. Gloria, it's based on what she and Stevie experienced. You don't wanna miss this. So, Gloria and Stevie, welcome to Stand. I know your audience is gonna be inspired about your story. Niki and I have already talked to you about it and we're so glad to get to share your story with our audience.

Gloria Giorno:

Thank you so much for having us.

Kelly Tshibaka:

Yeah, absolutely.

Niki Tshibaka:

Yeah, absolutely yeah. You know it's awesome to have a mother and son story of courage standing against this approach to silence, dissent or differing voices. It's just a beautiful picture of how freedom is a family matter too. It's not just an individual matter and it's a community matter, it's a city matter, it's a state matter, it's a national matter, but it starts with the family. So thank you both for being such a wonderful example of that. I would like to start off just getting to know a little bit more about you, gloria. You are a first-generation American, as Kelly mentioned in her intro, and your family immigrated here from Yugoslavia, which is a communist country. Could you tell us a little bit about your family's history and what you learned from your parents and grandparents about what it was like living under communism and parents about what it was like living under communism.

Gloria Giorno:

Well, my father came to this country in 1956 and my mother in 1961. I grew up knowing that communism was something that you never wanted to live in, and both my parents stood against it. My parents taught me that in communism, you have no freedom of speech. You have no freedom of worship, you have no freedom of anything. Everything that you have belongs to the government. You do not have the freedoms that we take for granted here in America. I grew up knowing that.

Gloria Giorno:

I went to school in communist Yugoslavia for first grade and I grew up knowing that that police officer who I saw every day on the corner while I was walking to school he wasn't there to make sure that I was all right. He was there to make sure that no one would speak out against communism or Yosuk Tito, who was the dictator at the time. I also knew that I had a thousand US dollars. I was six, I had a thousand US dollars in my backpack and I knew that a civil unrest broke out. Now imagine being six years old and being taught about civil unrest and I knew that a civil unrest broke out. To get into a cab that was waiting for me at the corner and that cab would take me to the border of Serbia or actually, I'm sorry, Yugoslavia and Italy, and I knew that that was my way to get out and my parents would come when they were able to.

Gloria Giorno:

So in families like mine we have a great appreciation for America and for everything it stands for, and my father passed that along. My mother passed away many years ago, but my father, Stevie knew my father and my father passed that love of America to both of us, to all of our family. My father was a proud American for 57 years. He changed his name from Andra to Andrew when he came to this country. He had $10 with him and he got a job at a company that had Italian. They spoke Italian, as did he. He took night classes to learn English.

Gloria Giorno:

My father became a shining example of a successful American immigrant, and I'm very proud of both my parents. My mother was a PhD tenured professor from the University of Chicago, so I'm very proud of both my parents and what they accomplished when they came from nothing, because they lost everything during the war, my mom's home was taken over by the communists and so they were displaced, so they were sent somewhere else. They eventually ended up in Lyon, France. That's where my mother came here from. But the things that my dad taught my children will always resonate and I feel that's what taught Stevie to stand up for himself more than anything. I mean my stories, my dad's stories. That's what Stevie learned from and we've always taught our family that We've always said after America, there's no better nation, there's nowhere else to go if America falls, and we have always placed an emphasis on freedom of speech the Second Amendment freedom to worship, freedom to be who we are and respect for the government, the police department and everyone who is in this country.

Kelly Tshibaka:

So that's a great background story, Gloria, for why your family loves America so much and would love something like Independence Day. So, Stevie, what was it that happened on July 4th 2020, that sparked a raging controversy and national news coverage at Belmont University? What is it that you did on summer vacation?

Stevie Giorno:

Well, it was around 7 or 8 pm. I remember very vividly it was after my parents and I had dinner together and right before I was going to visit with some friends to shoot off some fireworks. And I remember it was raining a little bit and I posted a picture of myself in front of the White House that my parents took a few years prior from our last trip to Washington DC, and it was a picture of me in a sweatshirt. Wait, let's pause.

Kelly Tshibaka:

I'd like to ask our Mr Producer to please put that picture up so everybody can see what a great picture it was. This is such a nice picture. Okay, go on.

Stevie Giorno:

And my caption on the photo on the 4th of July was that I was proud to be an American and I thanked our forefathers and those who had served so that we could have freedoms and liberties that we have today, that our forefathers intended for us in 1776.

Stevie Giorno:

And within hours, I remember being at my friend's house and people calling and people texting saying have you seen what's going on with your Instagram? And at the time I had my notifications off because I don't really like social media. I think it's an evil, terrible thing. It's just a necessary evil nowadays. But I remember looking at it and there were hundreds of negative comments from fellow students, friends of mine at Belmont University, people I knew and people I didn't know, saying that I was a racist, that I was an awful person. There were people saying that I needed to kill myself because I was celebrating a racist holiday and that I should be ashamed of myself and I needed to apologize. And really, what it boiled down to was during that summer of 2020, when BLM was rioting and burning down cities and destroying private property and killing innocent people.

Stevie Giorno:

I refused to post a black square on my Instagram page.

Stevie Giorno:

You know how many people were doing it in their stories.

Stevie Giorno:

I refused to do that and I refused to endorse the BLM organization because my cousin was a police officer who was shot and killed serving in Chicago, and so I'm never going to support an organization that calls to defund the police, that dishonors the memory of those people, like my cousin, who served honorably to defend everyday people, and I wasn't going to do that.

Stevie Giorno:

And so the very next day, July 5th, there was a change. org petition created by students at Belmont, where they said that they were going to impeach me because I was celebrating a quote covertly racist holiday. And if you Google my name, I'm very proud that it's still one of the first things that pops up that these people you know. There were hundreds of signatures almost 400 and many people commenting of signatures almost 400, and many people commenting. And it was one of the most difficult times of my life to have a school that you know voted for me almost unanimously to represent them. You know, just because I said I was proud to be an American and thankful that we don't live in communist countries like Yugoslavia or the Soviet Union and that we don't live in North Korea or Canada.

Kelly Tshibaka:

Let's pause right there. It's a great place to take a break because I want to jump right back into that story, right where you were so heart-wrenching. I'm glad you mentioned that it was difficult for you, because I think one of the things our audience wants to know is why didn't you just take the post down? So many people would have just, you know, seen the heat and backed away from the fire. And it must have been difficult, especially being in a position of public prominence on campus. So many people you know nearly the entire school liked you and then, overnight, nearly the entire school didn't. Let's pick up with that story after the break. Stand by. You're with Kelly and Niki Tshibaka on stand talking to Gloria and Stevie Giorno about how Stevie tried to. They tried to cancel him out of Christian University but he would not be canceled. Stand by.

Niki Tshibaka:

We're back with Gloria Giorno and her son, Stevie, and boy do they have a story to tell. We were just beginning to hear about it in the last segment. We're going to hear more on this side of the break. But, Stevie, before you jump back into your story, I just wanted to reflect on what you shared about people wanting you to post that BLM insignia on your Instagram post. That's all part of the whole virtue signaling, which really bothers me, because I don't believe virtue can be signaled. Virtue is lived, and that's a really dangerous thing when people think that they've actually been virtuous by performative acts. So the virtue in all of this was what you did, taking a stand for what you believed in and doing it with integrity, courage and, quite frankly, respectfully and with dignity. So go on and please pick up where we left off.

Kelly Tshibaka:

Yeah, you're talking about how this was a really difficult time and you just stood firm through it. So what made it difficult for you?

Stevie Giorno:

Well, I think the biggest thing for me was, at the time I belonged to a fraternity the only fraternity at Belmont, and these had been my brothers for, you know, over a year I'd been in this fraternity and they were great people it was, you know, politics did not matter. You know, at the time, before July and June and May of 2020, it didn't matter if you were a Republican, if you were a Democrat, if you didn't care about politics. Everyone got along. You know, Belmont is a small school of only I think at the time it was seven or 8,000 students, and so I think the hardest part for me was in those weeks following me, posting that I was proud to be from this country, I had a few fraternity brothers reach out and at first they said, hey, you should consider saying Black Lives Matter and getting behind the organization because people are starting to talk about it and they think that you don't understand how America is a racist country, and, of course, America is not a racist country, and that's what I would tell them.

Stevie Giorno:

Well, it got worse, much worse, those following weeks when I was referred to the standards board of my fraternity, which is the kind of like the judicial branch, and they usually only refer brothers who have broken the law or, you know, have done things that are not up to the standards of our fraternity. Well, a fellow brother of mine referred me because he called me a racist because I would not endorse the BLM organization. And Tennessee, fortunately, is a single party consent state. It's a beautiful state and very grateful that we left Chicago to come here. So I knew something was wrong. I just had a very bad feeling about it.

Stevie Giorno:

So we scheduled these Zoom meetings and I recorded them with my phone, while I was doing the Zoom on my laptop, and in these meetings these brothers of mine say that if I don't endorse the BLM organization, if I don't apologize and don't take down my post, they were going to do whatever it took to destroy me because I was standing up against the waves, the torrents of people that were just bowing down to the woke mob, because they were scared of being criticized, like I had been at the time.

Stevie Giorno:

And so, unfortunately, my big brother of the fraternity, who chaired the standards board meeting, told me that if I did not do what these students demanded of me and my fraternity, then that they would take action and get rid of me from the fraternity and then, of course, the fraternity a few days later ended up endorsing the organization and I left the fraternity out of protest, along with two or three friends of mine who were very supportive. So, even though it was very difficult, you know, having my brothers turn on me, the students, all of my friends, there were a few of them that stuck with me, who I still talk to today, and they've never compromised. Now I'm always very grateful for their support because they made it a lot easier. They made the tough days a little easier and they went by a lot quicker because I had people like that supporting me.

Kelly Tshibaka:

It sounds like bullying behavior. So, knowing everything you say, like you mentioned, things were political, but the post that you're talking about wasn't overtly political. I mean, you haven't mentioned anything Republican or Democrat in your post. I know a lot of Democrats who love America and celebrate July 4th. It's interesting that they were actually demanding and forcing compelled speech in order to be a member of the fraternity.

Kelly Tshibaka:

And then same thing with the university you don't get to be student body president unless you conform, and your compelled speech speech that's actually surrendering and trampling on your constitutional rights is, you know, going right back to Gloria's story, putting you right back into Yugoslavia, anti-american, fundamentally anti-American. But also, for people who remember that time or remember some other things that have happened recently, the America that we can kind of live in now. One of the reasons this method works is because so many people, as you say, just lay down and submit. When you're faced with that kind of an onslaught of pressure, they would just take the post down or just say, yes, I think the lives of people who are Black matter, and so if you want me to put a Black square up now, all the pressure goes away. Why didn't you?

Stevie Giorno:

Well, for a few reasons. One, I was never told what to do or threatened of what to do and told you must do this or else it's, like you said, un-American. And I remember, you know, I was 12, 13, you said, on American. And I remember, you know, I was 12, 13, 14 years old. And I remember listening to my grandfather, who was born in 1923 in Yugoslavia. So you know, in the 40s, when he was around my age, he was hiding from Hitler and in the 50s he was trying to escape from Tito. And I just remember talking to him of him saying the government told you what to say. They published the only paper. And I remember him telling me that he knew people that spoke out against the government and they wanted to kill those people. And so when all these people were rushing blindly to support this organization, which has now proven itself to have given the founders very nice homes in LA and around the country, you know I just I had my suspicions, but also I think that it was just on their, on their Web site, it said they were self-avowed, trained Marxists and they were an anti-Christian organization.

Stevie Giorno:

So it would have been easier, absolutely Like you said, to take down the post and to say you know, enough is enough. I just want to get along with people. But what I realized was no one would remember this years in the future except for me, and I would have to live with the decisions I made. My parents would remember the what I believed in and wanted to look in the mirrors and have no regrets. You know, 10, 20, 30 years down the line and fortunately I can say that I think I did everything right. You know, I still. If the exact same situation happened, I would not have changed anything except instead of posting that picture on the 4th of July at 8 pm, I would have done it at 8 am so that those people could have been having gotten it out of the way earlier rather than in the evening.

Niki Tshibaka:

Well, let's, let's. Let me just quote what you said, because I don't think we've quoted that for our audience yet. This is what you said, quote proud to be an American celebrating the sacrifice of those that gave their all so that we may enjoy the freedom and liberties our forefathers intended on this day in 1776. There is really nothing controversial about that. I mean, that is basic American history. And yet you were pilloried, you were attacked and you stood your ground. So let me pivot, if we can, to Gloria In these last few minutes we have in this segment. As a mom, I can imagine you were really concerned about the vicious and unhinged responses that Stevie was receiving to his post. My understanding is that you reached out to Belmont University's leadership yourself. What happened when you talked to the university about the situation and what measures, if any, did the university take to help Stevie?

Gloria Giorno:

Well, Belmont is a small university, as Stevie said. So what I did? My husband and I decided we would reach out to the president, who was supposedly always available, and when I called, his assistant told me that she knew that there was something going on with Stevie's social media, so they were aware of the situation. But she would have the president at that point call me back. And I waited and waited, and waited and of course I got no phone call from him. But about three days later I did get a phone call from their lead attorney. Who, point blank, said to me their lead attorney, yes. Who point blank said to me are you going to be suing Belmont University? And I said, what would I be suing for? I said my phone call is to address the issue of. I mean, we thought COVID was going to be two weeks. So how is my son going to be safe on a college campus when we have students telling him to go kill himself? I mean, if you read the comments they're very threatening and as a parent it's very frightening. I mean, you have children. It's very frightening to have these children coming after these students coming after your son. So my husband and I we didn't even want Stevie to go back to Belmont, but he was never going to give up. So I made it clear to the attorney that my only concern was my son's safety and he said someone will be getting back to you on that. No one got back to me on that.

Gloria Giorno:

So Stevie and I reached out to campus security and we offered to. We did a Zoom call with them as well and we offered to have private security escort Stevie on campus. And they were not. They were not okay with, you know, a private security person carrying a weapon, which I understand. It's a private university, it's their school, it's their property. I understand that and I respect that. And one officer who was on the Zoom call, who was with Belmont University, he offered to escort Stevie from class to class when he got on campus. He offered to escort him on campus from one class to the next to the next.

Gloria Giorno:

However, they told us that Stevie's vehicle, his car, was not allowed on campus. They could not guarantee its safety, they had no idea what somebody may do to it, and so he would have to figure out a way to get to school. And he was living at home, he was not living on campus. He would have to figure out a way how to get to school. So we did. We figured it out. He parked his car at a friend's garage three blocks away and a friend or I would pick him up, drive him to school, deliver him to campus security. The police officer would escort him all around campus and, you know, then we would go through the same thing to get him back, you know, to his car. So it was crazy, but that is the only.

Kelly Tshibaka:

Let's pause right there. I want to pick up there right after this break. I want to find out how long this had to go on. It seems like a lot of hoops to have to jump through and every day feeling extremely stressed out, not knowing who was going to come at you at campus wanting to kill you. We're with Stevie and Gloria Giorno talking about Belmont University, trying to cancel Stevie because he celebrates the Fourth of July. So we'll be right back after this break, stand by, and you're on stand with Kelly and Niki Tshibaka. Okay, we are back with the uncancellable Stevie Giorno and his mom, Gloria. We were just talking about how you had to have a security detail on you when you were on campus but that you had to be essentially dropped off like kiddie drop at campus because they wouldn't let you park on campus, because they couldn't guarantee the security of your car. How long did this have to go on?

Stevie Giorno:

Well, this lasted from my entire second semester as student body president. I had to constantly look over my shoulder and worry that one of these students who said and there were students that put this in the official Belmont College Democrat group text that if they saw me on campus they would attack me. They wanted to beat me up, they wanted to punch me, they wanted to punish me for being proud to be an American, but in the end that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was not students saying we're going to attack you, it wasn't having security with me. Whenever I was on campus, it was on the day of the presidential debate, the final presidential debate where President Trump debated Joe Biden at Belmont University.

Stevie Giorno:

I found out from a friend of mine who is a Democrat. He was very nice, he was on my cabinet in student government. He sent me a screenshot and in it it was of the Belmont College Democrats and they were speaking poorly of me. And this one female student who apparently knew me, I did not know her, she told everyone all 100, 200 Democrats in this group text that she had been putting quote gross stuff in my drinks whenever I would go to her fast food establishment in the morning. You know, being from Tennessee I love my sweet tea. And she admitted to putting gross stuff in that. And that still wasn't the worst part. You know, fortunately, I went to the doctor. I was not ill. I called the police and they were unable, unfortunately, to investigate. Because I was healthy and because the Nashville Police Department is so understaffed, I just want to pause.

Kelly Tshibaka:

Gross stuff can be a euphemism. You may or may not know what it was, but doesn't that essentially amount to food poisoning? We used to have food tasters for things like this, so that the gross stuff would kill the food taster before it got to the person it was intended for. Right, that's an assault.

Stevie Giorno:

It is, it is. And so we called Nashville Police and they said well, you're fine, you're healthy, we don't have the manpower to do it. And my friend who sent this to me he texted her back and said I can't believe you think this is acceptable. This is terrible. And she said oh, don't worry, it's not like I've been putting rat poison or anything like that in it, and just the thought of someone making a joke about that, you know, is unbelievable. But the worst part about this entire experience was we turned this female student into Belmont University. We gave the screenshots with her name and her picture.

Kelly Tshibaka:

Her confession.

Stevie Giorno:

Yes, we gave it to the school and a few months later the school didn't punish her and they rewarded her by accepting her into Belmont Law School.

Niki Tshibaka:

Wow of speech, respect for different views, and instead it sounds like they enabled bad actors to continue behaving badly, which is just, it's horrible and it's not what any educational institution, particularly Christian institution, should be engaged in. And the very idea that you were called a racist for supporting our country, I mean, what are they going to? What were their thoughts on Black Americans who have fought and died for the very country I mean, what are they going to? What were their thoughts on Black Americans who have fought and died for the very country they're saying is so racist? I mean, clearly, these people saw something. We Black Americans saw something and see something in this country that they're missing, which is, we believe it's worth dying for, at least those of us who have gone out and served in our military. So it just boggles the mind. But we'd love to talk to you guys about the book. Kelly had a question about the book and we're looking forward to chatting about that one.

Kelly Tshibaka:

Yeah. So, Gloria, what was your inspiration in writing this book about Stevie's experience, the family's experience at Belmont?

Gloria Giorno:

Well, there are many things that compelled me to write the book. First off, I don't think that any student should be threatened on any college campus. I don't care if they're right, left, Republican, Democrat. Our children should be safe on every campus, be it grade school, high school, college, where you live we live in America we should have some safety measures in place at schools. So my book is an educational tool for parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles to see what actually does go on at universities. This isn't something that only happened to my son. I realize that there are many children this happens to and there are many books out there. There are many people who talk about it.

Gloria Giorno:

The thing that I did that is different from the other books, as Stevie mentioned. Yes, tennessee is a one-party consent state. I have every recording. I was whipping for that call. Imagine sitting across from your son and not hearing all this and not being able to do anything or say anything. I am that parent who was there and so I have firsthand knowledge of exactly how it feels and I don't know. Whatever parents do.

Gloria Giorno:

I also try to include I have included in this book every screenshot, every text, every email. It even goes to the administration level. I mean even a president of a school sending an email to Stevie that was just incorrect and improper and making a joke out of the changeorg petition that Stevie was named in. I mean he thought it was funny, but everything is included in the book. Everything is included in the book. I mean, as we like to say, we call it like a picture book, because it does have documentation of absolutely everything that occurred throughout this entire time. Even we even have a picture of when Stevie graduated. So everything is in there, absolutely every detail, and the evidence is there. So I mean I know that the school has been reached out to by quite a few people who have interviewed us, but they've not come back with anything. They can't. Stevie followed the handbook he provided administrators with absolutely every single detail. They have nothing that they can come back with. They have every copy. But he has the copies of the emails when he sent them over.

Kelly Tshibaka:

So clearly that's not. Yeah, I think that's helpful. I would like our producer to put the picture of the book online Outcast how the Radical Left Tried to Destroy a Young Conservative, so our audience knows what it looks like when they're looking for it online. I think what you're describing the reason why this matters not because you're handing it out to a lawyer who's going to build a case against Belmont, but because other families out there or people who are going through it themselves, you might be wondering, hey, what's really going on here? And you kind of you get in your own head game, thinking you might be the problem and it's you and you might just need to, like, sit down or lay down and just take it. And actually what you did, Gloria, is you provided the expose, you brought into light what's been going on in darkness to show actually there's this whole collusion thing that goes on behind scenes in an effort to cancel those whose views are different and force them into compliance and to conformity and to compel their speech to align with what the extreme radical left wants you to say. And this is what it looks like. And so then people know this book essentially gives them a roadmap on how to stand, and that's what I think is so unique about this book.

Kelly Tshibaka:

You wouldn't expect it to happen at a Christian university. You wouldn't expect it to happen when you got elected with nearly 100% of the vote. That's the thing is. It happens at unexpected times, but that's when you need this is the roadmap. This is how you get this evidence and something else that you and I talked about. For those who are thinking, hey, maybe do I need this roadmap Stevie had kind of already mentioned it. It all culminates in the debate which we watched on TV, but Stevie was there on campus when things kind of reach a fever pitch with the Trump-Biden debate, right, and kind of give us a teaser. I don't want you to tell us what happens in the book, but this all laid out in the book. Everybody is all upset about how racist and horrible Stevie is and this drink poisoning, and then your book will tell us right this drink poisoning?

Stevie Giorno:

and then your book will tell us right, yes, yeah, well, it was absolutely terrible. They went back on their promises and they made getting to the debate very difficult, but fortunately we made it there. So I was very, very privileged to have been there and have seen President Trump do a great job in making his case. But it is all in the book. Email by email.

Kelly Tshibaka:

Yeah. So that's going to be a fascinating read, the apex moment of this presidential debate, and then after that the book will detail out how we get to graduation and all of that. And I just can't even imagine how harrowing this whole experience was. Stevie, how did that? How did school wrap up for you? What was the experience like? Were you like relieved and put that behind me, or did it feel like victory? I summited that.

Stevie Giorno:

Well, I remember being very nervous to go to graduation. You know, covid was still going on a little past the two weeks, they told us, and of course Belmont University was limiting how many people could be in attendance. So I got to bring my parents and my brother and his wife now wife and so we're all masked, we're all socially distanced, and they said all the students who are in the same majors together. Well, I'm sitting by all these political science students who I know cannot stand me and I can. I can see them staring at me. You know, everyone's wearing a mask, but it's a small school. They know who you are.

Stevie Giorno:

And I remember sitting there and for weeks my parents said what do you want to do? Do you want to go? Do you not want to go? Are you going to get food? Do you think people clap? We had no idea.

Stevie Giorno:

And so I remember sitting there surrounded by these people who said if they were going to see me, they were going to attack me. And of course they didn't. They're keyboard warriors and that's just about it. But I remember they get to the last names of G and they're going, you know, down the list and they're almost to me and of course, I take off my mask, I stand up when they announce my name and I give a big thumbs up and a wave to the university president, and I was happy to be done with the school.

Stevie Giorno:

You know, I really thought that I was going to be booed. I told my parents to be prepared for that and the craziest thing happened. People were applauding, and that just goes to show that, regardless of all the pressure and all the heat on social media, there are still many people who think like us and stand up for our values and beliefs, and so that was one of the most reassuring moments of this entire ordeal was expecting to get booed, and people were there clapping and they were proud of me, and I'm very grateful and thankful that they were there to show me that you know, remind me that I did make all the right decisions that I felt that I was doing.

Stevie Giorno:

It was one of the most surreal moments of my life.

Kelly Tshibaka:

That's fantastic, Stevie. That's super inspirational. I like how you call them keyboard warriors, but the fact is, when you actually take a stand and go into the heat every day, model that courage on campus, you actually have a lot of supporters that you're rallying and inspiring behind you. Stand by. We're going to take a quick break. You're on stand with Kelly and Niki Tshibaka. We'll be right back. We're back with Gloria and Stevie Giorno. We're talking about a book that Gloria wrote, called Outcast how the Radical Left Tried to Destroy a Young Conservative. You can buy it on the Internet websites like Amazoncom, BarnesandNoblecom. I'm sure you have been on the Internet for a while. It also shows how you can take a stand simply by using your pen.

Niki Tshibaka:

So I just want to follow up, stevie, with you about your story. You know what One of the ironies of all of this is in you taking a stand for freedom of speech, for what you believe, you are actually taking a stand for all of those other students who were threatening and opposing you, because, in standing for freedom of speech and freedom, you know the rights of conscience. You were advocating for them even as they were attacking you, and that's why, when I talk about, when I think about, virtue, that's the, that's virtue, right, that's not acting like you're virtuous, that's actually being virtuous, and so I just want to commend you for that. That's just such an incredible story, and I think it's something that will inspire not just young adults your age, but, you know, folks like us, you know, and others, to remember that all of us can do something. We can't do everything, but all of us can do something. And something as simple as standing, which is what you did, made a huge impact and you saw, it's a graduation. All these other people who were silent.

Kelly Tshibaka:

Yeah, good point.

Niki Tshibaka:

And they applauded you in the end.

Kelly Tshibaka:

They were standing with you.

Niki Tshibaka:

And so hopefully, in the future, those same people will have been inspired by your courage and your integrity and your virtue and will do the same in some situation going forward. So I just wanted to emphasize that that was just an amazing story. Gloria, you're the founder and president of the United Women Foundation. It's a nonprofit that mentors and provides college scholarships to conservative female students. I think that's fantastic. You clearly have a passion for mentorship. You've very clearly mentored your sons very well. I mean, they haven't met your other son, but Stevie is just an incredible young man incredible young man. So would love to hear more about United Women Foundation. Why did you feel there was a need to develop a scholarship fund and a mentorship program specifically for young conservative women?

Gloria Giorno:

Well, when Stevie's incidents were going on at Belmont, a lot of young women came and started telling him what was happening in their lives and there were a lot of similarities there, and so they started telling me their stories. And their stories are horrible. I mean, young women are targeted much more so by the radical left and the left than young men. Stevie happened to be in the line of fire, but young women are targeted because the left glamorizes being a Democrat and being a leftist and you know you can have control of your own body and you know abortions are OK it's you, it's not the baby. So they're trying very hard to get to our young female population and unfortunately the Republican Party doesn't do as well a job as they should with branding and marketing, in my opinion, and I wanted to do something to be able to help these young women who are in these situations where they had nowhere to turn. So I thought about it and we started off as United Women of Tennessee originally, because we were just doing Tennessee and then we grew very quickly and so they need a safe place where they can come to and talk to us and tell them what's going on with them and what is happening to them at work, at school, where not. So United Women Foundation was born from that and we meet once a month on Zoom because our membership is throughout the country. So we do meet once a month and we do conduct interviews. I mentor young women on how to do an interview. I also help them with their resumes, because they don't learn that in college. Nobody helps them with that, so I'll help them with a resume. I'll help them getting internships.

Gloria Giorno:

Two of my young women interned for a senator here in Tennessee this past summer.

Gloria Giorno:

One of them is still there and I also tried to get them employed with conservative employers. And one of my young women went on to do she's with a political strategist and she did a very successful campaign recently and I'm very proud of all of my young women extremely, and it only takes one person to start a conversation and that's what I did. And now I have so many women throughout the country, and young women especially, that we're mentoring, because we're all getting older and we need to look to and I have an amazing board. They're extremely supportive and they're everywhere, and so we work together and we come together and we do whatever it takes, because we're far from winning this fight.

Gloria Giorno:

Conservatives need to stand together and that's exactly why I started United Women Foundation and the book proceeds the net proceeds from the book Outcast do go to the foundation for scholarships for young women, and we do not base the scholarships on financial. We do not base it on if you are a straight, a student. What we base it on is what are you doing as a conservative right now and what will you continue to do throughout your life as a conservative? That is my main focus conservatism, and that's everything that United Women Foundation stands for.

Kelly Tshibaka:

That's amazing. Thank you for sharing that with us. So when you buy the book, you're helping out this mentorship program and placing women on a new career track, getting them built up and supported. Stevie, speaking of these students and these conversations that you and your mom are having in this time, what words of advice would you have for students who are in a similar situation as you? They feel like they're outcast because of their values and their beliefs, or they may have even gotten some friction or been targeted or threatened, and they think that it's just better to shrink back, go undercover, not speak up, and they're afraid of experiencing that kind of backlash. Having gone through this whole process now, what would you say to them on the other side of it?

Stevie Giorno:

Well, I think the most important thing is to remember to do what you think is right, not to bow down to people who are telling you what to think rather than how to think, which is a big problem we have in schools, I think. Secondly, have a good group of supportive people. I was very fortunate that my parents and my family were always behind me and I had some great friends at school who were always going to support me, and I had some great friends at school who were always going to support me, and I think that it's you know. I have the privilege now of serving as the Tennessee Young Republican Chair, where I continue to hear of these stories happening at Belmont and schools throughout Tennessee and in every other state, and what we forget sometimes.

Stevie Giorno:

You know we're the silent majority by choice.

Stevie Giorno:

We need to have more people speak out as to what is happening with them.

Stevie Giorno:

We need to highlight what they're doing, to stand up and resist the pressures being put on them, and we've got to come together and cooperate and coordinate better so that people aren't going to be alone, because I think that's the hardest part for young people is they want to fit in, they want to be accepted and they hate being the outcast, but we're not the outcasts because there's so many of us who have been attacked. We've just got to get together and work together if we want to see and be the change that we want to see in this country. So I would say that the most important thing is to remember that we are not alone and, however bad it gets, it will get better. Just give it time and remember that there are people that came before and will come after that will struggle with the same issues, and what you do now will determine how much easier fellow conservatives will have in the future or how much harder it will be for them if we end up tall now.

Kelly Tshibaka:

Yeah, I like that. You're breaking a trail. It makes me think of something you said earlier when you were like I thought no one's going to remember this, but me, Like. I have to look myself in the mirror every day. You know, fearlessness is formed in the fire. The only way you can develop this is by going through it, and sofa sitters don't ever make a difference. If you're sitting there, silent on the sofa, you're not actually blazing the trail for others. So those are really good words of wisdom. What are you up to now, Stevie? You're on the other side. You're a college graduate. You dress great, you talk well, you interview perfect. So what are your future aspirations? What are you thinking? What trails are you blazing for other people now?

Stevie Giorno:

Well, right now, like I said, I'm the Tennessee Young Republican Chair, so looking forward to getting a Republican back in the White House in 2024 and making sure that Tennessee stays a supermajority Republican state. A few months ago, myself and two partners founded a business a security business so we're looking at making sure that our schools stay safe and that we get armed officers to protect students in schools, but also I'm involved in Rotary and a few other organizations Just to give back. You know I've been very fortunate that we live in Tennessee and that we've been given all the opportunities that we have here, and I love to give back. You know I've been very fortunate that we live in Tennessee and that we've been given all the opportunities that we have here, and I love to give back and support the community that has supported me and molded me into who I am today.

Kelly Tshibaka:

Rotary is fantastic. We've got great Rotary clubs up here too. That's wonderful to hear. I'm sure we'll be seeing you again. Whatever you put your hand to, doing good is always good for the community, and I think that's the story and our takeaway from our time with you guys today. So thank you for being with us, Stevie and Gloria. We really appreciate it. We appreciate the way that you've modeled, taking a stand everything.

Kelly Tshibaka:

You walked through Stevie on campus only to find out at graduation that you weren't walking alone. You actually had a room full of people who were supporting and applauding you and Gloria, you as a mom. There are a lot of parents right now who are probably listening to this interview going. I want that book. I totally respect that that mom. As a parent, it's really hard to watch your kid go through suffering and persecution and have to be at a distance listening and watching and not getting any support. But you're the one who collected the evidence and documented it all and made a case and I can guarantee that having that support there was part of the reason why Stevie got through it. So what a great testimony.

Kelly Tshibaka:

This is Audience standouts. The reason why this story gripped our hearts and minds is because, before Stevie posted a great 4th of July post, gloria and Stevie were just ordinary Americans, just a college kid doing a college thing, and then this hit him. And that's what we're talking about the life's challenges, one episode at a time, and they have a great story because they just stood day by day by day, until they got through to the other side. And and that's what we can do too and when you take a stand, you make a difference. Stand firm, stand strong. Follow us on your favorite podcast channels, hit, subscribe. Share this with your friends, encourage one another, because you can make a difference too. We'll see you next week. Stand firm, stand strong.

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