Stanford University just awarded its student drag performance troupe $50,000 in funding — exactly five times the $10,000 it gave to the student veterans group. And before you ask, no, this isn't satire. This is what happens when you charge $240 per quarter in student activity fees and let campus activists decide where the money goes.
Fifty thousand dollars for drag. Ten thousand for the people who actually served the country. Stanford literally put a price tag on how much more it values men in wigs over men in uniform.
The numbers come from the Associated Students of Stanford University, or ASSU, which manages the funding process. Student organizations request specific amounts each year, ASSU makes recommendations, and then the student body votes. The Stanford Drag Troupe received 84% approval for its $50,000 haul, while the Stanford Undergraduate Association of Veterans squeaked through with 88% approval — for one-fifth the cash, as reported by The College Fix.
So the veterans were actually more popular with voters and still got shafted on the budget. Only at Stanford does winning the popularity contest mean losing the money fight.
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And the drag troupe isn't exactly putting that $50,000 toward world peace. Among their sponsored events is something called "Are You Smarter Than A Sexpert?" featuring performers who go by "Slut the Rock Johnson" and "ZZ Chic." Your tuition dollars at work, folks. Mom and Dad must be so proud.
Luisa Rapport, Stanford's Director of Media Relations, offered the standard corporate deflection when asked about the funding gap. "Student organizations make requests for specific amounts each year, which are considered by ASSU," Rapport said. "ASSU then makes recommendations based on those requests, and they are voted on by the student body." She also noted that Stanford has "more than 600 student organizations that span a wide range of academic, cultural, political, religious, and social interests." Translation: don't blame us, blame the process we created and oversee.
The funding disparities don't stop at drag versus veterans. The Muslim Student Union pulled in $175,000, while the Stanford Republican club got $7,500. Let that sink in. The Republican club — at one of America's most prestigious universities — got pocket change compared to virtually every identity group on campus.
John Sailer, Director of Higher Education Policy at the Manhattan Institute, nailed it. "It's a familiar story," Sailer told The College Fix. "Students are recruited for their interest in social justice, group identities, and activism and then — surprise! — they build a campus culture obsessed with social justice."
Sailer acknowledged that larger organizations might reasonably get more funding than smaller ones, but added that "it's much more difficult for administrators to make qualitative decisions about what's actually worth funding." In other words, nobody in charge wants to be the person who says maybe — just maybe — the veterans who risked their lives deserve at least as much as the drag performers.
This is what elite higher education looks like in 2026. The 5:1 ratio isn't an accident. It's a mission statement. Stanford just told you exactly what it values, and it put a dollar figure on it — $50,000 for sequins and lip-sync, $10,000 for service and sacrifice. At least they're being honest about it for once.