Courtesy of Turning Point USA

Turning Point USA, a conservative group on college campuses is seeking recognition on Tulane University’s campus as it aims to reopen its chapter.

Editor’s note: Since publication, a Tulane University spokesperson clarified that all new student organization applications are paused while the school conducts a comprehensive review of active organizations for compliance with federal laws and university policies. The pause applies equally to all groups, regardless of the applicant’s viewpoint.

A new force for conservatism is looking for recognition on Tulane University’s campus as Turning Point USA seeks to reopen its chapter.

Turning Point USA is a conservative group on college campuses and in high schools whose mission “is to identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government,” according to the group’s website.

Turning Point is not yet a recognized student organization, though it has submitted an application. Until approved, Turning Point cannot use university facilities or resources.

According to a statement from Tulane University spokesperson Michael Strecker, the process of recognizing student organizations is on hold to “ensure the alignment of all RSOs with Title VI and Title IX federal statutes prohibiting discrimination, as well as their alignment with the university’s own non-discrimination policies and its core mission and values.” 

That pause is an attempt to slow the recognition of TPUSA, according to first-year and Tulane chapter president Noam Gracia. 

The pause was announced the day after Turning Point submitted its application. “I feel like it’s very obvious that they’re trying to stall us,” Gracia said.

The Loyola University New Orleans chapter was denied recognition by the student government on Wednesday evening. 

Since the assassination of right-wing standard-bearer and Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk at an event at Utah Valley University in September, new Turning Point chapters have sprung up across the country. The organization said it received over 60,000 requests from high school and college students to start a chapter after Kirk’s death. 

The TPUSA Bayou territory, which covers Louisiana and Southern Mississippi, has more than doubled its number of chapters from nine to 19 this year, which includes chapters at Tulane and Loyola. To be considered a Turning Point chapter, an organization does not have to be recognized by its university.

Gracia had reached out to Turning Point USA to found a chapter before the shooting, but said many more students were interested in joining after. The Tulane Turning Point Instagram has already attracted 329 followers since it was created last month.

Tulane’s political climate is broadly liberal, with a gap in right-wing political organizations on campus. In a pre-election survey of 415 respondents conducted by The Tulane Hullabaloo last year, over 60% were registered Democrats, compared to less than 10% Republicans. Only 15% planned to vote for Republican candidate Donald Trump. 

“I think it [the Tulane student body] is more liberal than it is conservative, but I think we’ve also got to give it more ideological diversity than we might think,” said Nathan Jones, president of the Tulane University College Democrats.

Gracia said the conservative students are “closeted” because they don’t have an outlet on campus. “There’s more conservative students than it seems; many just stay quiet out of fear of backlash,” Tulane Turning Point member Roberta Treviño Zambrano said.

A report by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression found that 48% of conservative Tulane students reported they self-censor “’a couple of times a week’ or more because of how students, a professor, or the administration would respond.” 

“They [students] don’t want to have their opinions or their values affect their interpersonal relationships or the reputation of professors or even their future careers,” Gracia said. 

The return of Turning Point opens up new opportunities for conservative students to be vocal on campus. “More people are getting more comfortable with the idea that there are conservative students here, last year, since there wasn’t a Turning Point,” Treviño Zambrano said.

Gracia said he hopes the new organization opens up the possibility of greater political discourse on Tulane’s campus. 

“I want Turning Point Tulane to bring space where students can be in a diverse group of people from any political spectrum, any race, any background, to be able to debate about intellectual topics, and eventually create a middle ground,” Gracia said.

Jones, Tulane College Democrats president, shared a similar sentiment. “I think it’s good for people to explore their political beliefs and organize,” Jones said. “We should all be involved in some way. I support people organizing and speaking their minds in a civil way.”

However, nationally, Turning Point has attracted controversy, especially for its Professor Watchlist. The watchlist, a project of TPUSA, claims to “expose and document college professors who discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom,” according to their website.

Professors who have been featured on the watchlist have been doxxed, harassed and even had threats made against them and their families. Currently, two people are featured on the list for Tulane, though neither is currently working at the university. 

Turning Point has also been accused by the Southern Poverty Law Center of having ties to “hard-right extremists” and advancing white nationalism.

“I don’t think that, in general, the Turning Point USA national organization has represented the best of our country or the best of our political discourse,” Jones said. “But I believe Tulanians are good and kind people. And so I hope and believe that the worst of what we see, for example, online, is not reflected here.”

Both the College Democrats and Turning Point Tulane want to bridge the political gap.

“I think that it goes without saying that this is a moment of extraordinarily high tensions in our country right now, with the recent incidents of violence that we’ve seen on several occasions. Jones said. “We’ve got to lower the temperature somehow. And I think that that starts in communities like ours.”

Even though recognition may be a while away, Gracia is determined to build the organization. “We’re not gonna give up. We’re gonna keep fighting and doing our events outside of campus and keep the community strong and the momentum going,” Gracia said.

Editor’s note: Roberta Treviño Zambrano and Nathan Jones have previously contributed content to The Hullabaloo’s publication.