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St. John’s University officials are refusing to intervene to approve a Turning Point USA chapter after the student government denied the club’s application.
Spokesman Brian Browne told The College Fix “only 4 of 19 proposed organizations successfully navigated the approval process,” during the fall semester.
The spokesman for the Catholic university in Queens said the club leaders should reapply to student government – the same entity that already denied them approval.
Turning Point USA activists could also “pursue other existing alternatives for department-sponsored organizational support,” Browne.
The Fix could not reach the student government for contact at its listed phone number.
The denial decision drew criticism from the group’s leader, as well as Catholic and free speech experts.
Club founder Massimo Guerriero said the denial leaves his organization without funding. It has been able to operate through the school of business, but did not have access to money for events and recruitment. He said there are at least 80 interested students in the club’s group chat.
This is the second time the application has been denied. Guerriero told The College Fix he sought approval again this semester after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the founder and CEO of the national Turning Point USA organization.
He told The Fix via email the student government seemed biased against him from the start, as members were “giggling” as he came in for the presentation.
“Many of the questions posed were not centered on our proposal or compliance with university requirements but instead focused on how we would respond to potential backlash tied to the ideologies of TPUSA’s founder,” Guerriero said.
Days later, Guerriero received a rejection email from the student government, which did not list any reason for the denial. “We strongly encourage you to reapply in the future… We believe that with continued refinement, your organization has the potential to make a meaningful impact on our campus community.”
Other liberal groups are allowed on campus, including those that would appear at odds with the Catholic Church.
“St. John’s currently recognizes and funds numerous political and identity-based organizations, including the Palestine Solidarity Committee, the NAACP, and the Spectrum Club, an LGBTQ+ organization that hosts annual events such as ‘Gaysgiving,”’ Guerriero said.
“Throughout the process, we emphasized that our chapter would be nonpartisan, open to all students, and grounded in the Catholic and Vincentian values that define St. John’s University,” the conservative student activist said. “We also highlighted the absence of any campus organizations dedicated to civil discourse and open political dialogue—something central to our mission.”
The rejection without cause of his club “should never become the standard for students whose views do not align with the prevailing ideology. Institutions must be held accountable.”
Catholic university ‘has been trending secular’
A Catholic leader based in New York echoed Guerriero’s sentiments in an emailed statement to The Fix.
The university “has been trending secular” though it “once [was] a bastion of traditional moral values,” Bill Donohue said. He is the president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. His group “defends the right of Catholics – lay and clergy alike – to participate in American public life without defamation or discrimination.”
He said Guerriero and other students should “petition the president, Father Brian Shanley, to demand in writing why they were denied.”
“They should also contact the alumni office—the graduates of St. John’s need to know how their alma mater has changed,” Donohue said.
The Catholic leader criticized the double standard at St. John’s.
“Charlie Kirk’s TPUSA is grounded in a commitment to civil discourse. As such, it should be featured on all campuses, and this is doubly true of Catholic ones,” he said. “Furthermore, it is nothing but hypocritical to raise the flag of inclusion and reject a Christian-friendly group like TPUSA.”
He noted the university “holds a ‘Lavender Graduation,’ one that is exclusive to homosexuals and those who falsely claim to belong to the opposite sex. Pope Francis would not have been amused. He referred to gender ideology as ‘demonic.’”
A free speech group had its own criticism to add.
Universities must “use viewpoint-neutral criteria when evaluating potential student organizations,” Charlotte Arneson told The Fix via email. She is a program officer for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
“Allowing protests or potential hostility from other students to influence the decision-making process risks turning the student government vote into a popularity contest and endangers free expression for all students on campus,” Arneson said.
