Fort Lewis College denies official recognition to TPUSA chapter despite approving several left-wing organizations
The Associated Students of Fort Lewis College voted down a request to recognize a TPUSA chapter.
The school has multiple left-wing organizations currently on campus, including race- and gender-oriented groups.
A university recently declined to recognize a conservative student organization despite having several active liberal groups on campus.
The Associated Students of Fort Lewis College, the school’s student government, recently voted to reject a Turning Point USA chapter’s request for official recognition, according to video of the group’s meeting posted to X.
The ASFLC president said that the group put aside its own morals and ideals in the decision, but ultimately decided to deny TPUSA from becoming a registered student organization due to the opinions shared by members of the campus community. The audience immediately broke out into cheers and applause as soon as the announcement was made.
Over 30 students showed up to speak in opposition to the group’s approval, including 15 more who were unable to speak due to time constraints, and only three individuals spoke in favor of it, according to The Durango Herald.
“Although, on an individual level, the people who are here representing Turning Point may not want my rights personally to be stripped away, we are all aware – painfully aware – of the harmful and violent and hateful remarks that have been made by its founder, Charlie Kirk,” said one opponent. “We know the rhetoric that he has put out against people in marginalized communities, and I don’t believe that having that conversation on campus will do any good at all.”
Jonah Flynn, the student attempting to found the chapter, showed a PowerPoint during the meeting explaining the group’s mission, saying the club would promote conservative ideals, but would not target marginalized students.
Flynn blasted the ASFLC’s decision, commenting, “It’s obvious that the club should exist. They talked all about being unbiased and whatnot, then they reject it for ideological reasons, or maybe because they’re scared about some kind of pushback, or something like that. They have no idea what kind of pushback they’re going to get now. I mean, it’s clearly a violation of their own policies to reject (the group).”
Despite the decision to not recognize Flynn’s conservative organization, the school currently recognizes several left-leaning student organizations. One such group, the Sexuality and Gender Alliance club (SAGA), serves as “an all-inclusive, intersectional group that believes people of ALL genders and sexualities deserve equal rights, treatments, and access to resources” and partners “with clubs and organizations across campus to sustain the voices of our LGBTQIA+ community.”
The school also hosts a number of race-based organizations, including the Black Student Union, Alaska Native RSO, American Indian Science and Engineering Society, and American Indigenous Business Leaders.
All relevant parties have been contacted for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
