Students submit a third application to bring Turning Point USA to PLNU

Editor’s Note: Grace Chaves, who is a source in this article, is The Point’s opinion editor.

Following the assassination of Charlie Kirk last month, the CEO and founder of the political nonprofit organization Turning Point USA (TPUSA), numerous students presented Point Loma Nazarene University with its third application to bring a chapter to campus.

After the first vigil ceremony led by the Students for Life club on Sept. 14, students started an application for a TPUSA chapter at PLNU. The movement’s leaders started a petition, which gained over 200 signatures from students and alumni. An email chain, which included those who signed the petition and was started by Brooklyn Stratton, a third-year sociology major, shared updates on the application and even began an election process to establish the chapter’s leadership positions.

Nathan Blanco, Associated Student Body’s director of student relations, said that students who are interested in establishing a club will reach out to him, and he will provide them with paperwork to fill out before meeting in person. He will then look over what they submitted with the director of community life and provide feedback as needed. Once the application is resubmitted with necessary adjustments, he will propose it to the ASB Board of Directors during their weekly meetings.

Connor Mathisen, director of community life, declined to comment on the status of the conversation regarding the application.

An election was held on Oct. 8, where the core leadership roles for the potential club were filled. Ginger Friess, a first-year biochemistry major, will be president; Stratton will be vice president; Jake Daichendt, a third-year accounting major, will be treasurer; and Luke Cole, a third-year Christian studies major, will be secretary. 

An email was sent by Cole to the email thread with the results of a secondary election that occurred between the core leadership board members to select the branching leadership positions, including recruitment chair, social media director, marketing, spiritual advisor, fundraising strategist and policy alignment officer.

The elected leadership board declined an interview with The Point.

TPUSA has reportedly been denied by ASB two previous times, once in the spring of 2021, then again in the fall that same year. According to an article by The Point in April 2021, TPUSA did not align with ASB’s mission statement regarding the communication and interaction between students, administration and faculty. The previous ASB Board of Directors said that TPUSA did not bring constructive conversation and instead divided the community.

However, at the time, there were political clubs on campus, including PLNU College Republicans and PLNU College Democrats, which both had been approved by previous directors of student relations. Those clubs are no longer active due to no one filling the necessary leadership positions, according to Mathisen..

A big concern, which was noted in the previous applications, was TPUSA’s Professor Watchlist, a platform to report college professors that students feel discriminate against conservative beliefs. This also clashed with ASB’s mission statement. Ella Malone, the ASB President from 2021-22, said that the inclusion of the “Professor Watchlist” would create divisive language.

Lidiya Harvey, a 2014 PLNU alumna, has been gaining interest on social media from her posts regarding how PLNU has responded to the death of Kirk, as well as the concerns of students and parents about the school.

“I hope they approve the Turning Point chapter,” Harvey said. “I think that would be a great thing for the school and for the students, but really, I hope it is a turning point to return it to Christ.”

A mix of emotions and opinions has sprouted across campus in reaction to this application. 

“My concern with the Turning Point USA chapter coming to Point Loma Nazarene University is I don’t know that students would handle the conversations in the same way that Charlie Kirk would,” Grace Chaves, a third-year journalism major, said. “I’m concerned that they are going to be very one-sided.”

Chaves said that college is a place to learn different perspectives and opinions, regardless of the topic or subject. She said that there should be equal ground for all perspectives and beliefs.

Emma Wood, a third-year education major, expressed her support for the inclusion of a TPUSA chapter.

“I think Turning Point’s values are really important and something that we as Christians should support,” Wood said. “I also think that open communication and debate and discussions is really important for everyone and for understanding truth and just being a community.” 

Wood was disappointed with PLNU’s response after Kirk’s assassination and decided that aiding the effort to bring a chapter to campus would be best to bring healthy discussion and debate to the community.

The application status is still pending without a date scheduled for the final decision.