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Conservative commentator Kaitlin Bennett returned to UCF in February 2026 after visiting the campus twice in the fall of 2020. While Bennett’s arrival in 2020 was to support conservative students during a protest, this time, Bennett interviewed students for her YouTube channel, Liberty Hangout.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Salome Caballero Borboa<\/p>\n
With the afternoon sun beaming in the Student Union courtyard, conservative political commentator Kaitlin Bennett arrived with her camera crew to interview students at UCF on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Bennett arrived on campus without warning, interviewing students mere feet away from the UCF Turning Point USA and UCF Students for Life of America tables in front of the Student Union. To some, this seemed like a curated political event. To others, a chance for open conversation.<\/p>\n
Kiyanah Rodney, a senior political science major, spoke to students across campus to get their thoughts.<\/p>\n
“With people coming in, right-wingers who are having extremist views, a lot of kids I talk to are very uncomfortable with what’s happening right now,” Rodney said.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, Anderson Fish, a junior majoring in political science, said he doesn’t agree with Bennett politically, but still welcomes the conversation.<\/p>\n
“At\u00a0the end of the day, a conversation’s a conversation,” he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Conservative student organizations’ tabling, as well as Kaitlin Bennett’s arrival, occurred in the middle of the afternoon Tuesday, around 1:00 p.m., a time when the campus is bustling with students walking between classes through the student union. This sparked many side conversations among students after they spoke with Bennett or another group.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Minaal Arain<\/p>\n
To Bennett, this was simply an opportunity to film for her YouTube channel, Liberty Hangout.\u00a0Bennett said her team was there specifically to talk to students about a variety of hot-button political topics, such as voter ID laws.<\/p>\n
Liberty Hangout<\/a>, Bennett’s YouTube channel, is a conservative media outlet “promoting faith, family and freedom”\u00a0by engaging with students in “free speech and open dialogue,” according to the channel’s description.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bennett first gained attention upon graduating from Kent State University in 2018. In her graduation photos<\/a>, Bennett strapped on an AR-10 semiautomatic rifle while on campus, and held her cap, which read, “come and take it.”<\/p>\n Bennett posted the photos on Twitter, where she received large publicity from people on both ends of the political spectrum. Claiming she was protesting the university’s gun policy, Bennett also referred to an incident where protestors at KSU were met with gun violence from federal agents during the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n