Conservative student exposes Midwestern college for preventing Turning Point USA chapter
A conservative student from Beloit College in Wisconsin says her school is blocking students from establishing a new Turning Point USA (TPUSA) club on campus and has failed to adequately protect its members from harassment and threats they have faced for trying to do so.
On Oct. 1, Jocelyn Jordan and some of her classmates began applying to start a new Turning Point USA chapter at Beloit College, requiring them to find a faculty advisor, among a list of other requirements needed to start a club on campus.
Every faculty member the students have asked thus far, including the dean of students, refused to help them, according to Jordan, who said she was advised to establish a group that does not have the Turning Point name attached to it. Jordan also claimed a member of the student government said that even if they were to find a faculty advisor, they still would not be able to establish a Turning Point chapter on campus.
Meanwhile, Jordan and her classmates began promoting their club on social media around mid-October, leading to a harassment campaign targeting the students for their efforts to create a chapter of the Republican group, first founded by assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk, on their campus. The harassment initially included disturbing imagery posted on the group's new Instagram page, referring to Jordan and her co-founders as Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members and White supremacists, but eventually devolved into threats.
TEXAS LAUNCHES EFFORT TO INSTALL TPUSA IN EVERY HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE
However, Jordan said the university dismissed the students' initial harassment concerns, telling them there was nothing faculty could do because they could not identify who was making the harassing posts. When the harassment devolved into threats, Jordan filed a subsequent police report, a move that appeared to spur greater action from the college, which eventually banned one of the main harassers from campus, who Jordan said was an alumnus working in food service on campus 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. "I mean, it took three and a half weeks for [Beloit College] to even address the situation, and that doesn't give me much hope for how this is going to turn out for Turning Point."
In addition to banning the alumnus from campus, the college also sent out an email, which Jordan described as "vague" and pointed out that it came after weeks of their complaints that fell on deaf ears, warning students about hateful rhetoric towards other students. The email did mention an incident of late that included "the depiction of other Beloit students as dangerous radicals, Nazis, or monsters seeking to cause harm."
"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."
The harassment campaign targeting Jordan and her classmates was led in part by a now-deleted Instagram page titled "bc_friendly_fan_edits," which posted a photo of the potential Turning Point board members at Beloit photoshopped around Charlie Kirk in a casket and Donald Trump on a cross. The same group also posted a sexualized depiction of a female Nazi with Jordan's face juxtaposed on it. The photo was captioned "#bullythebigots."
Another harasser sent the group's new Instagram page direct messages calling them "cowards" and laughing about the fact they have been unable to find a faculty advisor to support them. "Careful yall. The Klan members (tpusa_beloit) are calling in their gang (local police) to invoke fear in brown people within the community because they couldn't handle the consequences of their own actions," said a post sent to the hopeful TPUSA chapter's new Instagram page via its direct messages. Other posts sought to satirize Turning Point USA's logo, using it to create a "Meet The Campus Nazis" graphic that called out all the potential chapter members.
"Our first post received over 75 comments in just one day, with more than 90% of them being hateful. We heard every name from klan members to Nazis to white supremacists. Some people even began attacking our appearances, specifically my blonde hair (which isn't even my natural color lol) and blue eyes," Jordan wrote in a post on Facebook and X calling out her college for the lack of response to the situation.
But then the threats started coming in, and things got a little more serious.
"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.
Several posts also began chastising Jordan and her classmates for getting the police involved.
"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," the same harasser who threatened there would be "consequences" posted on their Instagram story. "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."
"Imagine hiding your klan behind the police because you couldn't handle the consequences of your own actions. How very klan-like of you," said another comment on one of the group's posts.
In response to this article, Beloit College sent Fox News Digital a lengthy statement saying the school is "committed to fostering respectful open inquiry and encouraging a diversity of perspectives on campus." The statement also insisted it was "not blocking" the students from a path to club membership, noting it has been "in full accordance with campus policies" and that all potential clubs must follow the same list of requirements.
"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 said. "Beloit College expects all members of our community to practice compassion and respect towards each other. We are an educational institution, and students learn best within a safe and vibrant campus environment."
The statement also confirmed that "a recent investigation" led to one individual being banned from the Beloit College campus.
Jordan told Fox News Digital that she and her classmates are not giving in. The group is still hoping to get their Turning Point chapter a faculty advisor, so that they can become a fully functioning student organization on campus.
In response to the alleged political bias, GOP Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Josh Schoemann called on Beloit College to "approve the chapter." Current governor, Democrat Tony Evers, announced his plan to retire earlier this year.
"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 told Fox News Digital.
"I stand with these students in their fight to establish a Turning Point USA chapter," Schoemann added, noting that, as governor, he "will ensure that students can freely and safely express their views on campus."