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Revision as of 05:06, 3 January 2018 editDrFleischman (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers25,325 edits →Denial of recognition on campus: trim← Previous edit Revision as of 05:09, 3 January 2018 edit undoDrFleischman (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers25,325 edits →Potentially illegal campaign activities: rm 'collusion' para - gross misrepresentation of source, and laced with BLP viosNext edit →
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===Potentially illegal campaign activities=== ===Potentially illegal campaign activities===
According to The ], Turning Point USA has secretly been involved in influencing ] elections at a dozen colleges and universities, which some have said constitutes a violation of their 501(c)(3) status.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.chronicle.com/article/Inside-a-Stealth-Plan-for/240008|title=Inside a Stealth Plan for Political Influence|last=Vasquez|first=Michael|date=2017-05-07|work=The Chronicle of Higher Education|access-date=2017-09-06|language=en-US|issn=0009-5982}}</ref> Universities that have been targeted by this effort include ], the ], and the ]. These revelations led to conservative candidates at the University of Maryland withdrawing from student elections after failing to report assistance from Turning Point.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dbknews.com/2017/04/17/turning-point-umd-college-campuses/|title=Conservative nonprofit linked to Unity Party has chapters at more than 1,000 universities|date=2017-04-16|last=Snurr|first=Carrie|website=The Diamondback|access-date=2017-09-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2017/03/29/conservative-dark-money-groups-infiltrating-campus-politics/215822#tpusa|title=The Conservative Dark-Money Groups Infiltrating Campus Politics|last=Vogel|first=Pam|date=2017-03-17|website=mediamatters|access-date=2017-11-24}}</ref> In December 2017, '']'' published an article that expanded on Turning Point’s involvement in student government elections, showcasing a private brochure, handed out only to Turning Point donors, which highlighted their alleged strategy to take over student governments at universities across the country.<ref name=":0" /> According to The ], Turning Point USA has secretly been involved in influencing ] elections at a dozen colleges and universities, which some have said constitutes a violation of their 501(c)(3) status.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.chronicle.com/article/Inside-a-Stealth-Plan-for/240008|title=Inside a Stealth Plan for Political Influence|last=Vasquez|first=Michael|date=2017-05-07|work=The Chronicle of Higher Education|access-date=2017-09-06|language=en-US|issn=0009-5982}}</ref> Universities that have been targeted by this effort include ], the ], and the ]. These revelations led to conservative candidates at the University of Maryland withdrawing from student elections after failing to report assistance from Turning Point.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dbknews.com/2017/04/17/turning-point-umd-college-campuses/|title=Conservative nonprofit linked to Unity Party has chapters at more than 1,000 universities|date=2017-04-16|last=Snurr|first=Carrie|website=The Diamondback|access-date=2017-09-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2017/03/29/conservative-dark-money-groups-infiltrating-campus-politics/215822#tpusa|title=The Conservative Dark-Money Groups Infiltrating Campus Politics|last=Vogel|first=Pam|date=2017-03-17|website=mediamatters|access-date=2017-11-24}}</ref> In December 2017, '']'' published an article that expanded on Turning Point’s involvement in student government elections, showcasing a private brochure, handed out only to Turning Point donors, which highlighted their alleged strategy to take over student governments at universities across the country.<ref name=":0" />

In addition, several former employees and student volunteers for Turning Point said they had witnessed collusion between high-ranking Turning Point employees – including Kirk himself and top advisor Ginni Thomas - and the presidential campaigns of both ] and ]. The interactions included Kirk coordinating via email with two officials at a pro-Cruz ] to send student volunteers to work for the PAC in ], as well as two students being requested by Thomas herself, via voicemail, to distribute over 200 Cruz placards in ]. A former employee for Turning Point who had been based in Florida alleged that Turning Point had given the personal information of over 700 student supporters to an employee with Rubio’s presidential campaign.<ref name=":0" />


===Other controversies=== ===Other controversies===

Revision as of 05:09, 3 January 2018

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Turning Point USA
File:Turning Point USA logo.jpg
AbbreviationTPUSA
Formation2012
TypeStudent Organization, 501(c)(3)
PurposeActivism
Region served United States & Canada
Executive DirectorCharlie Kirk
Websitewww.tpusa.com

Turning Point USA is an American conservative or right wing nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to educated students about "true free market values." It was founded on June 5, 2012, by conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Since 2016 Turning Point USA has maintained a "Professor Watchlist" that lists college professors it alleges "discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom." The organization also secretly attempted to influence student government elections in an effort to combat liberalism on college and university campuses.

In December 2017, former employees of Turning Point USA accused the organization of engaging in racist practices.

Background

Charlie Kirk founded Turning Point USA in 2012, when he was 18 years old. He says his dream was to attend the US Military Academy but got rejected, and blamed this on affirmative action. He continued to live in his parents' home until 2015. Charlie Kirk has compared Turning Point USA to the efforts of MoveOn.org, a progressive 501c4 organization.

Turning Point's allies include Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and billionaire Foster Friess. Friess also serves on the organization's advisory council, alongside Ginni Thomas, wife of US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Turning Point's non-profit board consists of Charlie Kirk (President), William Montgomery (Secretary/Treasurer), and George Hamstra (Director). Charlie Kirk's father is Robert W. Kirk, the project architect manager for Trump Tower in New York.

Kirk said that in 2016 he spent two months with Donald Trump's election, "working directly with Eric, Ivanka, and Donald Trump Jr. to move the millennial vote."

Groups that are aligned with Turning Point include Project Veritas, the Heartland Institute, Freedom Works, and the National Rifle Association.

Student activities

Turning Point holds several yearly national conferences, including the Young Women's Leadership Summit, High School Activist Conference and Young Latino Leadership Conference. They have also sponsored outside conferences such as the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Each of Turning Point's paid workers is supposed to meet a quota to make at least 1,500 student contacts per semester. Student volunteers have several different themes for promoting conservative ideas, including "The Healthcare Games," "Game of Loans," and "iCapitalism."

In 2017 several Turning Point student members at Kent State University conducted a protest against campus "safe space" culture, which involved one activist wearing a diaper and drinking from a sippy cup.

The organization founded Hypeline News in 2016. On their website, TPUSA wrote: "Hypeline News is a young-adult driven social news site that provides fresh and innovative web content, news updates, and entertainment. Our goal is to make important news culturally relevant and digestible for Millennial news consumers." Hypeline News has since been renamed "Turning Point News" Turning Point USA's website says the organization has more than 1,000 chapters in colleges and high schools.

Finances

Turning Point's revenues were $78,890 in 2012, $443,859 in 2013, and $2,052,060 in 2014. Charlie Kirk has stated that TPUSA received $5,000,000 in 2016.

Racism allegations

In December 2017, The New Yorker published an article showcasing interviews with former minority members of the organization. Former staff members said they witnessed widespread discrimination against minorities in the group, and stated "the organization was a difficult workplace and rife with tension, some of it racial." One former employee, an African-American woman, said she was the only person of color working for the organization at the time she was hired in 2014; she then said that she was fired on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The article also revealed text messages sent by Crystal Clanton - who was a leading figure in the organization and served as the group’s national field director for five years - to another Turning Point employee saying "i hate black people. Like fuck them all . . . I hate blacks. End of story.” Kirk responded to the revelations by saying that "Turning Point assessed the situation and took decisive action within 72 hours of being made aware of the issue." The article also noted that Kirk had explicitly praised Clanton in his book Time for a Turning Point, saying that she had been “the best hire we ever could have made,” and that “Turning Point needs more Crystals; so does America.”

Charlie Kirk has said Turning Point USA has no relationship relationship with alt right groups. Turning Point has been criticized for supporting former alt-right Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos, including when the organization sponsored him at University of Colorado and Miami University (OH).

Other controversies

Professor Watchlist

First appearing on November 21, 2016, Turning Point USA also operates a website called Professor Watchlist in order to "expose and document college professors who discriminate against conservative students, promote anti-American values, and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom." The website lists academics who “promote anti-American, leftwing propaganda in the classroom” according to a blog post by Charlie Kirk. Tips are accepted from the public, and over 200 professors are currently listed. The website has been criticized as racist and pro-fascist, using surveillance type propaganda to manipulate ideas of truth, equality, and freedom. Critics have compared Professor Watchlist to the actions of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, who tried to publicly identify American citizens as Communists and Communist sympathizers in the 1950s.

In May 2017, Northern Arizona University criminology professor Luis Fernandez said Turning Point surveillance of him had led to multiple threats. In the Harvard Crimson Harvard Professor Danielle Allen also said she had been threatened after being targeted by Charlie Kirk and Turning Point.

Denial of recognition on campus

At Drake University, Turning Point was denied recognition as an official student organization based on student senate concerns that the organization has "a hateful record," "aggressive marketing" and "an unethical privacy concern."

At Hagerstown Community College, a student's attempt to start a Turning Point group was initially blocked when the school said the organization duplicated an existing group. The student's lawsuit led to the school revising its policy on student organizations, clarifying that school funded groups will be denied if they duplicate existing groups while unfunded groups face no such restriction.

In February 2017, Santa Clara University's student government voted to deny recognition for Turning Point as a campus organization. As of March 2017, this decision was overturned by the Vice Provost for Student Life, and Turning Point has been recognized as a registered student organization.

Wartburg College's student senate voted to deny Turning Point USA recognition in late November. The chapter was forced to make changes to its constitution after initially being denied approval.

Potentially illegal campaign activities

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, Turning Point USA has secretly been involved in influencing student government elections at a dozen colleges and universities, which some have said constitutes a violation of their 501(c)(3) status. Universities that have been targeted by this effort include Ohio State University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Maryland. These revelations led to conservative candidates at the University of Maryland withdrawing from student elections after failing to report assistance from Turning Point. In December 2017, The New Yorker published an article that expanded on Turning Point’s involvement in student government elections, showcasing a private brochure, handed out only to Turning Point donors, which highlighted their alleged strategy to take over student governments at universities across the country.

Other controversies

In 2016, Turning Point at Grand Valley State University filed a lawsuit against the trustees of the school. The complainants asked the court to prohibit enforcement of GVSU's Speech Zone policy and declare it a violation of the students’ 1st and 14th Amendment freedoms.

In December 2016, PolitiFact reported that Turning Point falsely quoted Nancy Pelosi.

Also in May 2017, DePaul University refused to allow Turning Point to post "Gay Lives Matter" posters on campus. Matt Lamb, a spokesperson for Turning Point, said that the action by DePaul was an infringement of free speech rights. However, a university official, Amy Mynaugh, said that the posters pitted the LBGTQ community against Muslims.

In September 2017, a University of Nebraska lecturer was reassigned after she received threats stemming from a video posted online that shows her confronting a student recruiting for TPUSA.

A critic of Turning Point, consultant Dahn Shaulis, said the group isn’t as innocent as it wants the public to believe. Besides publishing an opinion piece that concludes that Black Lives Matter is a “domestic terror group,” TPUSA incites anger against its members so it can gain publicity. Justin Carrizales, who started a TPUSA chapter at Creighton University, said that the characterization was inaccurate, but that it does "encourage members to use smartphones to photograph and videotape conflict and anger directed toward them."

At Turning Point’s annual Student Action Summit in December of 2017, one of the featured speakers was Fox News contributor Tomi Lahren. Prior to her appearance, one student had submitted a question for Lahren’s Q&A segment in regards to her changing her stance on abortion, which eventually led to her being fired from TheBlaze. However, the student was told by a Turning Point employee that Kirk himself had requested that all questions on the subject be rejected. Several students, angered by this, shouted the question at Lahren during the Q&A; Lahren yelled back at the audience “You need to simmer down! You don’t even want to start with me!” In the aftermath, Kirk personally apologized to the students and said the incident had been the result of a “miscommunication” between employees.

References

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External links

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