Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is a conservative youth group that promotes “the principles of freedom, free markets, and limited government.” With a presence on over 800 college campuses nationwide, TPUSA aims to “play offense with a sense of urgency to win America’s culture war.”
Charlie Kirk, who founded TPUSA at 18, made a name for himself as a conservative speaker and activist who turned the organization into a “well-funded media operation,” boasting support from numerous conservative mega-donors. TPUSA’s donations come from many big names in the Republican Party, including Foster Freiss, a multimillionaire financier who gave TPUSA its first donation of $10,000 weeks after meeting a then-teenaged Kirk.
Charlie Kirk greets Turning Point USA supporters, including volunteers from LMU, at an event on the campus of University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Although the national organization’s founder is decidedly conservative, Oliver Petherbridge, freshman marketing and classics and archaeology double major and treasurer of TPUSA at LMU, describes the organization as “non-political.” TPUSA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, meaning they are “absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office,” according to the IRS. This means that TPUSA is eligible for receiving private donations and grants, and is tax-exempt. It also means that much of the organization’s finances are available for public viewing.
Petherbridge noted that, although TPUSA does not officially endorse a specific candidate, they speak to political issues as a “pro-America” organization.
“Pro-America for me would probably mean similarly to what [Kirk] would mean when he says TPUSA is pro-America,” continued Petherbridge. “One of the primary missions that [Kirk] had when he set out … was not to convince people to be conservative or to be liberal; it was simply to convince people to be proud of their nation and proud of their heritage.”
TPUSA’s goal to “win America’s culture war” is one that Petherbridge described as an issue that does not exclusively apply to political issues. “The culture war that’s being fought … it’s not on politics. It’s not to specifically convince somebody of a conservative talking point,” he stated. “It’s simply to convince people that you should believe in this country … you should believe in having conversations that are centered around fulfilling promises of equality and freedom and justice that have become contentious sometimes.”
Petherbridge noted that despite the organization’s conservative affiliations, members often disagree on certain issues. “You don’t find many hard leftists, but you will find people that are even pro-choice, for example, which is a big delineation from typical conservative standpoints,” he said.
Supporters and volunteers gather around Kirk at UCLA to ask questions. Some members of TPUSA at LMU both participated in the event and met Kirk.
Ryland Repetti, junior finance and accounting double major and president of LMU College Republicans, noted that, although the two organizations often go “hand in hand” and share some members, funding is a key difference between the groups.
“I’ll just be blunt; they’re much better funded than us,” explained Repetti. “Turning Point is a national organization … while our parent organization, the College Republicans of America, was recently conceived.”
Repetti recalled that he was “quoted in the thousands of dollars” when he initiated organizing a shooting range event for the College Republicans. “I wasn’t able to put that on with our more limited funding, however, when Turning Point came on [campus] this year, that was the first event they put on.”
According to information compiled from TPUSA’s Form 990 — the information return that most non-profits with federal tax exempt status submit annually to the IRS — TPUSA amassed $79,264,002 in the 2022 fiscal year from contributions. The national organization’s overall revenue for 2022 sits at $80.6 million.
With support from numerous influential conservative figures, Turning Point USA is continuing to establish a far-reaching influence.
Since its establishment on campus in September, the organization has afforded its members at LMU many opportunities in both social and political scenes. Petherbridge particularly credits TPUSA for connecting him to other LMU students with similar views to him.
“It’s kind of hard to make friends, I suppose, at a deeper level — if you have a lot of fundamental political disagreements,” reflected Petherbridge. “Especially if you’re [in] college and it’s kind of an intellectual space and academic space, you definitely want to have conversations across the spectrum and across the aisle … but you definitely don’t want to have to feel like you’re alone in some of your beliefs.”
He also noted that TPUSA is “really, really good for opportunities, especially if you’re conservative, just because it’ll make it easier to get along with the people that [you] are going to be talking to … Some of the stuff that they’re able to pull off — it’s actually kind of unimaginable.”
Part of TPUSA’s success can be accredited to the social media presence that they have built. Petherbridge added that “[TPUSA has] phenomenal social media outreach; they have really viral content, a lot of famous figures … College Republicans doesn’t necessarily have any particular superstars … There’s not so much of a celebrity culture.”
The organization has garnered the support of influential conservative figures, from social media personality Ben Shapiro to former President Donald Trump, who has maintained close ties with the organization by attending and speaking at four TPUSA events since 2019. This “celebrity culture” that has helped TPUSA rise to prominence has, at times, been accompanied by controversy, both on and off LMU’s campus.
The Loyolan additionally contacted TPUSA at LMU President Brynn Katler, junior communication studies major, who declined to comment but referred other sources. TPUSA Social Media Coordinator Sammy Amer, sophomore philosophy major, did not provide a comment.
Although Repetti commends TPUSA for their work during their first year on campus, he noted that he believes that, at LMU, we “need a very different approach” to the culture war described in TPUSA’s mission. “I feel like the LMU student body is overall … I don’t know if apathetic or moderate is the right word to choose,” he stated. “I think a better approach for that is armoring our students with the facts and the information and the critical thinking skills to engage in those conversations and to find truth.”
He added his opinion that “a more effective approach [to politics] here is not necessarily controversy, but reason. A lot of what Turning Point does is they go out there and they unashamedly say what they believe … sometimes with the purpose of drawing up controversy.”
Madeline Shonholtz, junior political science major, also commented on LMU’s political environment as a member of Women in Politics (WiP). Shonholtz currently serves on their executive board as the events and philanthropy chair.
“You can tell that there’s a little bit of tension,” Shonholtz reflected on the relationship between the left and right-leaning organizations on campus.
Shonholtz noted that controversy surrounding political events has not solely attracted attention to conservative-leaning groups at LMU. She referenced a 2021 fundraiser for Planned Parenthood held on campus by (WiP) that garnered attention and protests from some community members — including protests in support of the fundraiser’s original cause.
Despite this instance of controversy, Shonholtz agreed with Petherbridge that, on an interpersonal level, politics rarely cause conflict on campus. “I very rarely have arguments with students and peers on the basis of my political beliefs,” she said.
“There’s no changing my opinion on my views and what I believe [is] a human right … and I know that I’m not going to be changing their opinions,” she stated. “So, rather than arguing about a topic that I know that we’re not going to agree on, personally, I just do not engage in conversations that I know aren’t going to be productive.”
“You’ll get yelled at by some people; you’ll get irritated by some people, but that’s also just how life is,” Petherbridge agreed. “I think it’s important to kind of toughen up to that fact.”
