When I first saw the news that the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga was labeling Turning Point USA a hate group and preventing a chapter from forming, I thought it was too ridiculous to believe.
DEI: Robert Barnes is threatening to sue The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga for banning students from forming a TPUSA chapter on campus. The school claims Turning Point is a hate group. If Dr. Bruce isn't careful the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ will put her on their… https://t.co/dGLUOt3u8A pic.twitter.com/v7Mhw7nbOh
— @amuse (@amuse) October 8, 2025
Well, I was half right. So far, the administration has not banned TPUSA. However, the approval of a new chapter has been delayed because the Student Government Association, which advises the administration on student groups, has voted against allowing TPUSA on campus, citing its classification as a "hate group."
Lesson #1: To get the full story, check it out for yourself. Lesson #2: Things are still bad on college campuses. TPUSA may overcome this hurdle because, well...Tennessee. But
The University of Tennessee is a state school, so I doubt that the Dean who will make the final decision is unaware that his institution requires state funding in a pretty Red state, so I suspect that a solution will be found. Academic institutions are not held in high regard these days by conservatives, and yet another attack on Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA just weeks after Kirk was assassinated on a college campus would be a bad move.
In fact, UT's comms team has made the point that the Dean need not follow the student government's recommendation:
“A group of students is currently working to register a chapter of Turning Point USA as a recognized student organization at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
All organizations who properly complete the registration process will be recognized by the University. On October 7, the Student Government Association voted to recommend the student organization not be approved. The vote is a recommendation to the Dean of Students Office, who makes the final decision. The Dean of Students’ decision will be made in accordance with University policy and the law. As with any student group, the University is working to ensure the students are appropriately supported as they navigate the process of registering a new student organization.”
Good, but not good enough. The student government's vote highlights why Turning Point USA is so desperately needed on college campuses. It is impossible to know whether the student government's vote would have doomed TPUSA before Kirk's assassination (it may still, though I doubt it), but by now, absolutely nobody has an excuse to not know that TPUSA is anything BUT a hate group.
But for the left--especially at academic institutions where leftism is nearly a religion--freedom of thought is apostasy. And apostates must be shunned, silenced, and punished. TPUSA, because it focuses on political debate and promotes ideas that are, in an academic environment at least, countercultural, is, in their eyes, a "hate group."
Obviously, the students need to be exposed to differing ideas, and TPUSA should be there to help.
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