FEATURED
Conservative student leader says the chapter has received ‘tremendous support’ over the past week
UPDATED
Fort Lewis College TPUSA leaders were recognized as an official student organization after an emergency student government meeting Friday.
This action came after being initially rejected by the public Colorado institution’s Associated Students of Fort Lewis College on Oct 29.
Zen Moreno, vice president of the TPUSA chapter, told The College Fix that their chapter experienced “tremendous support” from the community after the initial vote.
Among their supporters were the Colorado House Republicans.
The lawmakers sent a letter Thursday to college President Heather Shotton asking her to reconsider the school’s decision. They also urged the college to remain a place “where all students are free to speak, organize, and engage in civil dialogue.”
“Free expression should never depend on political popularity,” the lawmakers wrote.
Moreno told The Fix that the chapter filed “an appeal through the student court,” as well as “grievance forms on the discrimination” after the student government’s initial vote in October. However, Moreno said the emergency vote to approve their chapter took place before “either form was acknowledged.”
She said campus administrators and the president of the Associated Students of Fort Lewis College also “met with the chapter founder Jonah Flynn to inform us of the appeal and grievance processes that were available to us.”
As previously reported on The College Fix, controversy surrounding the club’s recognition were plentiful before its initial rejection. A student online under the name of Cam King started a Change.org petition to prevent the conservative club from becoming approved.
The petition had amassed more than 450 signatures. It alleged that Turning Point USA hosts “transphobic” speakers and “engaged in actions that directly harm our community.”
The TPUSA chapter also reported a number of its posters being vandalized ahead of the initial vote.
According to Moreno, anti-TPUSA students vastly outnumbered pro- at the initial student government meeting in October, “leading to the high ratio difference in attendees and speakers. 49:4.”
When asked about the situation, a spokesperson for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression raised First Amendment concerns in a recent email to The College Fix. FIRE is a nonprofit that “defends and promotes the value of free speech for all Americans” in courtrooms, campuses, and culture.
Speaking prior to the student government’s approval of the club, FIRE Senior Program Counsel Haley Gluhanich said that the “decisions and actions of a public college, including its student government, must comply with the First Amendment.”
Refusing to recognize a TPUSA chapter because of its “views, mission, or expression” would be “viewpoint discrimination which the First Amendment doesn’t allow for,” Gluhanich told The Fix.
Nardy Bickel, Fort Lewis College spokesperson, also responded to The Fix after the vote Friday, emphasizing the institution’s commitment to fairness and free expression.
She said the outcome of the vote on Friday “reflects ASFLC’s commitment to fair governance, educational growth, and consistent policy application.” However, Bickel also said it “does not imply endorsement” of TPUSA’s views.
Moreno said that moving on, the club is excited to bring back “opportunity for civil dialogue on campus.” The chapter’s recognition would not have been possible “without the community support received in person and online,” she told The Fix.
The entire chapter is “immensely motivated to keep pursuing the missions started by Charlie Kirk,” Moreno said.
Editor’s note: This article was corrected to note that the emergency vote took place before the TPUSA chapter’s appeal was acknowledged. The article also was updated to add comments from Moreno.
MORE: Students cheer after Colorado college rejects TPUSA chapter
