Turning Point USA established a chapter at Vanderbilt as a registered student organization eight months after Charlie Kirk, political activist and the organization’s founder, died.
The organization currently has two publicly listed members on Anchor Link, with junior RaeAnna Morales as the organization’s president and Leigh Scheer, a psychology professor, as the organization’s faculty adviser.
Scheer described the chapter’s core mission as an extension of the organization’s aims of providing a space for discussion around freedom, the role of government and the responsibilities of the individual within society. Scheer said she and Morales began discussing founding the chapter last fall and subsequently filed the paperwork in December. The chapter will begin its kickoff in the fall.
In a message to The Hustler, Morales explained how Kirk’s assassination inspired her to lead a TPUSA chapter at Vanderbilt. She said she hopes to bring civil discourse to the Vanderbilt community and a voice to the conservative student population.
“The feelings of disbelief, grief and anger led me to realize that freedom of speech and the right to engage in debate are the foundation of America, and they can never be surrendered to fear or violence,” Morales said. “Conservative students can no longer remain silent because Vanderbilt’s campus cannot be allowed to become just another university echo chamber. We must all learn the art of civil discourse and how to engage respectfully and intelligently with opposing viewpoints if we are ever to have any hope at healing the divide in our country.”
Morales, who also serves as president of Vanderbilt College Republicans, clarified that TPUSA and VCR are two distinct organizations with separate goals. While TPUSA represents conservative students on campus, she said the organization won’t endorse or campaign for any candidate, focusing strictly on policy positions and discussion. Additionally, Morales explained that Turning Point Action, an affiliate organization also founded by Kirk that has hosted political rallies and endorsed candidates, is an entity separate from TPUSA. TPUSA is officially listed as nonpartisan on Anchor Link.
“Turning Point and College Republican chapters both represent conservative students on campus but differ significantly in their structure, funding and organizational objectives. [VCR is] formally affiliated with the GOP and typically focuses on promoting the Republican Party’s political candidates,” Morales said. “Turning Point USA’s mission is to educate students about conservative principles, promote American patriotism and provide opportunities for open debate about political, social and economic ideas. Vanderbilt Turning Point USA is a non-profit, nonpartisan student-run organization that may advocate for policy positions but will never endorse or campaign for any candidate running for political office.”
Scheer expressed excitement for the chapter’s opening and her hope that it will foster open discourse on campus. She said she believes the chapter represents the core values of college education, encouraging students to challenge their own beliefs.
“I believe it will offer a space for many of our students who may feel they may not often have a voice that is supported more broadly on campus. College is intended to be a place for all students to explore belief systems and values and develop skills to think deeply about ‘why’ they believe ‘what’ they believe and to think critically about those belief systems,” Scheer said. “This is in perfect alignment with the core values of Turning Point, and I am excited to see college students have yet another opportunity to be engaged in this type of education and dialogue.”
Scheer also said she believes those in the Vanderbilt community who disagree with Turning Point’s ideology will nevertheless respect the chapter’s right to operate on campus.
“I expect, as a university that prides itself on institutional neutrality, Turning Point will not face any real challenges on campus. As we currently have organizations on campus representing a large array of political, social and religious views, I believe Turning Point will be another place for students to find community,” Scheer said. “Our students represent a large spectrum of viewpoints, and we at Vanderbilt believe everyone deserves to have a place of community and support. While there may be some students and/or faculty who might not support the organization itself, I expect they will respect its right to be on campus and students’ rights to be involved.”
Junior Gabriel Chichka criticized Turning Point’s aims and ideology in a message to The Hustler. He believes the organization falsely claims to encourage discourse and described Kirk as an “awful man.”
“Firstly, my opinions are based on the premise that TPUSA is primarily an organization dedicated to spreading hate,” Chichka said. “If it were actually dedicated to ‘fostering free dialogue,’ as its proponents love to pretend, their primary messaging wouldn’t be about ‘defending America’ and ‘unleashing true power’ as they say on the front page of their website, and their most famous moments wouldn’t be ones involving their members ‘shutting down’ college students and being ‘savage’ toward anyone [who identifies as a] liberal.”
Chichka believes the chapter will foster harmful attitudes toward minorities and that its establishment on campus reflects broader sentiments of bigotry that govern American politics.
“Our school’s TPUSA chapter will be a place for students with hateful views on LGBT people, immigrants and people of color to connect and spread their hate. I don’t think that there’s anything uniquely wrong with Vandy for having one but rather that having one is a microcosm of various problems with America [itself]. The animating force of much of our country’s politics is bigotry, and those politics have seeped into our lives such that we can’t escape them on campus,” the statement read.
Sophomore David Xiao said he has been intrigued to see if TPUSA would establish a chapter at Vanderbilt since Kirk’s death and acknowledged the presence of both heavy support and opposition to the establishment of the organization on campus.
“Ever since [Charlie Kirk’s passing], I have been on the edge of my seat to see if [the TPUSA chapter] will be passed. I know that we have a lot of backing from a bunch of representatives, which might seem like a lot, but [then] again, there’s also a lot of people who don’t want this chapter, and they have a pretty strong voice on this campus too,” Xiao said.
Xiao expressed excitement for the chapter’s establishment and highlighted the space TPUSA will provide for him to interact with others who share similar ideologies.
“To find out that after so long we finally got this thing approved, I’m just glad that there’s going to be a space on this campus [where] I’m able to meet people that share the same mindset, who share similar goals, who share similar visions [and] who share similar ideology,” Xiao said.
