Beloit College Blocks TPUSA Chapter, Fails To Protect Students
Beloit College students seeking to form a Turning Point USA chapter say administrators blocked the club and moved slowly when harassment and threats followed. The applicants reported faculty refusals to advise, a social media attack that turned threatening, and a delayed response from the college that only intensified criticism. The campus later banned an identified harasser after a police report, while Republican voices demanded faster action and approval for the chapter.
A small group of conservative students began applying to start a Turning Point USA chapter at Beloit College, and the process required a faculty advisor and other routine steps for campus groups. According to the students, every faculty member they approached, including the dean of students, declined to serve as advisor and suggested they form a group without the Turning Point name. One student government member reportedly told them that even with an advisor they still would not be allowed to register a Turning Point affiliate.
When organizers promoted the budding chapter online in mid-October, harassment followed quickly and aggressively. The new Instagram page for the group was flooded with disturbing imagery, name-calling and eventually direct threats aimed at the students who tried to create the chapter. The abuse included extreme accusations and graphic edits that singled out the founders by name and appearance.
At first the college told the students it could not identify who was making the harassing posts and could do little, which left the students feeling unprotected. After threats escalated, the students filed a police report, and the college responded by banning an individual identified as a main harasser from campus. That person was said to be an alumnus who worked in campus food service at the time.
“As a student, I should feel comfortable coming to campus no matter what beliefs I have, no matter what I identify as, no matter who I want to be. And, at this moment, I don’t feel comfortable,” Jordan told Fox News Digital. The process took weeks before any decisive college action, and students say that delay sent a clear message about how dissenting viewpoints are treated.
The college later circulated a message to campus warning about hateful rhetoric and referencing incidents that depicted other Beloit students “as dangerous radicals, Nazis, or monsters seeking to cause harm.” The email included: “I want to remind everyone that our Student Handbook states that social media harassment … is prohibited behavior,” the email added. “Engaging thoughtfully around difference is hard, but that’s why you’ve come to Beloit: to learn to do hard things well and with compassion. So let’s try this. Be kind to one another. Give the benefit of the doubt to other students.”
One of the harassing Instagram accounts posted grotesque photoshops and sexually explicit imagery that placed a founder’s face onto extremist imagery and captioned one post “#bullythebigots.” Direct messages accused the students of calling in police to intimidate “brown people” and mocked their inability to find faculty support. A comment on the group’s first post received over 75 replies in one day, and the organizers said more than 90% of them were hostile.
“The lack of accountability is showing, but the lack of consequences won’t be,” a comment on one of the hopeful TPUSA chapter’s new Instagram posts said. Other commenters threatened violence and framed the students’ police complaint as cowardly, while one harasser openly boasted of violent options and framed threats as a family legacy. That same harasser posted: “The day a white supremacist Nazi tries me is the day I’ll get to prove why burying authoritarians is a family legacy that I will carry on,” and added, “Come after me I dare you. If I run out of ammo I won’t run out of options. Second Amendment works better when its against Nazis.”
The college issued a public statement insisting it is “committed to fostering respectful open inquiry and encouraging a diversity of perspectives on campus” and that it is “not blocking” students from the path to club membership. The statement said the school has been “in full accordance with campus policies” and that “The college takes all allegations of threats and harassment against students seriously, including recent ones related to the students interested in forming a Turning Point USA chapter.” The statement confirmed an investigation that led to one individual being banned from campus.
The students have not backed down and continue seeking a faculty advisor so they can register their chapter formally and operate on campus. GOP gubernatorial candidate Josh Schoemann urged the college to act, saying, “Beloit College must approve the chapter and take immediate action to protect students from harassment and threats, anything less is a failure of leadership.” Schoemann also said, “I stand with these students in their fight to establish a Turning Point USA chapter,” and added that, as governor, he “will ensure that students can freely and safely express their views on campus.”
Darnell Thompkins is a conservative opinion writer from Atlanta, GA, known for his insightful commentary on politics, culture, and community issues. With a passion for championing traditional values and personal responsibility, Darnell brings a thoughtful Southern perspective to the national conversation. His writing aims to inspire meaningful dialogue and advocate for policies that strengthen families and empower individuals.
Related