Cowley: Keep Turning Point USA Off of Campus
University of Utah Campus in Salt Lake on Oct. 11, 2020. (Photo by Jake Stranzl | The Daily Utah Chronicle)
September 22, 2022
A few weeks ago, I visited our campus’ back-to-school club fair. There were lots of organizations and groups tabling, but one in particular stuck out to me. To my surprise, Turning Point USA had set up a table. They offered fliers to TPUSA events and copies of the Constitution, which were littered with pandering graphics and quotes from TPUSA contributors. They handed out buttons with phrases like “socialism sucks” and “I heart capitalism.”
Someone who isn’t aware of TPUSA antics may brush off their presence as another political group. But for those who are familiar with TPUSA’s history, their presence here is concerning. TPUSA has no place on our campus, and I am disappointed that our university allowed them to have a platform.
What is Turning Point USA?
TPUSA is a right-wing political organization founded by commentator Charlie Kirk. The organization’s website and social media pages post of a “culture war,” with one Facebook video titled: “A Cancel Culture War Is Being Waged Against Our Founding Fathers.” Many of their articles and videos contain similar inflammatory headlines, followed by statements that can be disproven with a simple Google search. These articles don’t seek to inform people on current events, but rather fuel the reactionary conservative movement here in the U.S. Their merch shop is only further evidence of this, with shirts for sale bearing the slogans “Real Men Aren’t Women.” The caption for this shirt reads “A fan favorite at SAS 2022, this unisex shirt is perfect for patriots who understand biology!”
TPUSA panders to the lowest form of political discussion and feeds the victim complex of conservative Americans, pushing the notion that conservatism is under attack. They also continuously platform right-wing speakers that push misinformation and conspiracy theories. At Americafest 2021, which is a yearly conservative convention hosted by TPUSA, some of the speakers included Rep. Matt Gaetz, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Rep. Lauren Boebert and Rep. Madison Cawthorn. These congress members voted to overturn the 2020 election results, and have ties to spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation. Rep. Lauren Boebert has vocally supported the alt-right QAnon conspiracy, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has spoken at white supremacist events. These members of Congress spout harmful and downright dangerous ideologies, and any organization that gives them a platform does not belong in an academic environment.
If the people TPUSA supports aren’t already telling enough in how dangerous they are as a group, founder Charlie Kirk tweeted that TPUSA was busing people to the capitol for the Jan. 6 insurrection. TPUSA also repeatedly vocalized support for Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who traveled across state lines during a Black Lives Matter protest and shot and killed two people.
The U’s Responsibility
As an educational institution, the University of Utah has a responsibility to foster an environment of critical thinking and growth. Allowing institutions such as TPUSA to have a place on campus is only stifling true intellectual political discussion. Political groups can and should exist on our campus, but when a group has a long history of pushing false information and conspiracy theories, we shouldn’t question whether or not they’re allowed on school grounds. It appalls me that the U claims to be an inclusive space for students while actively supporting a group that platforms white supremacists and Christian nationalists.
The U needs to do better at vetting political groups that come on to campus. As our current political climate becomes more and more polarized, it’s more important than ever to promote critical thinking and discussion. The spread of ideas such as the ones promoted by TPUSA only serve to polarize our campus and make spaces less safe for marginalized groups.
University is a critical time in a young person’s life, so we need to foster a safe environment for students to learn and grow. I hope to see more of an effort to vet groups that are allowed to table on campus moving forward.
Ben Ellis • Nov 27, 2023 at 12:40 pm
“University is a critical time in a young person’s life, so we need to foster a safe environment for students to learn and grow. I hope to see more of an effort to vet groups that are allowed to table on campus moving forward.”
By “safe learning environment” you mean an environment in which one can only be exposed to ideas and ideals that the author agrees with.
There has never been a time in the history of universities when this has been the goal. Letting universities and their faculty become a monolithic organization promoting only progressive ideas is the exact opposite of what we need. We need free thinkers who can look at both sides of this fight for freedom and decide what to take and what to leave.
Jack • May 23, 2023 at 6:00 pm
Sounds like Elle is all for free speech unless it is something she disagrees with. Nobody is forcing students to talk or visit the TPUSA table….if they don’t like it they can keep walking. This is the beauty of America.
Isaac • Sep 27, 2022 at 6:16 pm
I may not be a die-hard conservative on every issue but I know the actions that Elle is calling for are limits on free speech which is the ACTUAL stifler of critical thinking and growth. To limit one side of the political aisle because they don’t agree with your views is further dividing America and putting people in the social media bubbles that Elle claims TPUSA is pushing on people.
Elle, please step back and look at the bigger picture to see that restricting free speech is authoritarian and will result in the further stifling of critical thinking and academic growth.
Alec • Sep 24, 2022 at 5:08 pm
I thought the whole point of academia was to entertain free thought exchange and discussion and not to trample the first amendment? A university banning a group from organizing seems damningly close to marxism or even fascism.
Tyler Smith • Sep 24, 2022 at 4:51 pm
What a bad take.
Paige Nelson • Sep 24, 2022 at 4:15 pm
Hi there! As the current president of the tpusa club on campus, I would be more than happy to meet with you and discuss all of the fallacies in this article. We do not support white supremacy and are not an extremist group. While the majority of us are conservative, the men and women in this club range across the political spectrum. We try our best to cultivate an environment where we are free to share our beliefs and learn from each other. Feel free to send us a message on instagram (tpusa.uofu) if you would like to learn about what the club actually stands for 🙂
John Hedberg • Sep 23, 2022 at 3:05 pm
You know, I think the Chronicle should actually invite Turning Point to campus to speak, just to shake up a little bit of the pretentious, self-righteous privilege that seems to have taken hold here from people who think it’s all right to stereotype other people with hate labels while saying hate is wrong, and who are trying to shut down diverse free speech of other people in the name of inclusiveness, democracy, and diversity.
This is classic Marxist behavior, to label anyone who disagrees with you, and paint them falsely as practitioners of your own hateful behavior in the name of compassion you never actually practice, since real compassion would be to treat other people as human beings. (For instance, suppressing BIPOC speech just because the BIPOC speaker is conservative, and you don’t want people to know how many conservatives are BIPOC).
Trigger Warning: This is a former Democrat who left the party because of the endless race-baiting, hypocrisy, and false hate-labeling, which is about as far from diversity, equality, and inclusion as you can get~! 😋
Candace Owens of Turning Point USA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jmM437zRJU
p.s. Krystal Ball (the Progressive in the video) has since started her own cross-partisan commentary channel with conservative Saagar Enjeti, called Breaking Points. A taste:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmu1mLcdTuE
Best, with Love,
J Hedberg
John Hedberg • Sep 23, 2022 at 10:04 am
As far as I know, almost none of the allegations (racist or otherwise) which Elle has cast at Turning Point are correct, except that it’s run by a guy name Charley Kirk, who works hand-in-hand with Candace Owens, who as far as I know is very rarely described as a white supremacist. Lol
Outside of Marxist propaganda, I also have never heard of a “christian nationalist”, which is another made-up term like “Latin-x” they regularly use to label & divide people whose communities have values they neither ask about, listen to, care about, nor respect, terms which they use to inflame hate rhetoric in an attempt to make themselves sound compassionate when compassion is the last thing they have on their minds (ask anyone who escaped from a Marxist country, any friend from China or Venezuela, for instance).
So, Elle represents a group with Marxist ideologies on campus, since she’s using their labels to drum up false hate against people with points of view that might not benefit Marxist aims or ideology. Essentially, it’s an example of the hater labeling someone else a hater in an attempt to poison them in the eyes of listeners, so no one will hear what they have to say, since diverse points of view are dangerous to the Marxist narrative (which any friend from a Marxist country can also confirm: every diverse person is a “threat to democracy” and an “extremist” in police states where there is no democracy, and the totalitarian government is run by extremists).
I hope Candace Owens shows up for the Turning Point event, so I can have the LOL pleasure of seeing Marxists call her a “white supremacist” to her face. That debate will be epic! 😂
Anyway, maybe Elle is the one whose viewpoint doesn’t match a democratic campus, since diversity, equality, and inclusion celebrates non-violent free speech, and Elle seems intent on silencing diverse views with lying hypocritical hate labels in an attempt to desperately keep anyone from hearing any point of view that might question her own privilege and behaviors.
I usually don’t attend events like this, but now that I know it’s controversial, I think it might be fun to watch and listen to the dialogue! I’m sure it will be memorable, as well as unforgettably epic~!
Best, with Love,
J Hedberg