We, Linfield students against ideological censorship, believe in the principle of free speech. However, the petition to ban Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is not in the free speech business—it is in the suppression business. We request that Linfield reject any effort to revoke official recognition, funding, space privileges, or promotional support for TPUSA, and adopt policies preventing groups that engage in viewpoint discrimination, ideological exclusion, or political silencing from dictating campus discourse.
We make the following allegations and condemnations of the anti-TPUSA petition’s documented practices:
The petition seeks to publicly shame and expel a student organization for its conservative viewpoints, even when no misconduct is proven. This exerts chilling pressure on ideological diversity and forces students to self-censor in fear of institutional attacks, harassment, intimidation, and coerced silencing.
Anti-TPUSA campaigns have been accused (in student petitions and resolutions) of “harass[ing], intimidat[ing], and threaten[ing] students and faculty” who hold conservative views.
In many campus debates, anti-TPUSA activists deploy aggressive tactics: crowd pressure, shouting down dissenters, staging provocative confrontations to dominate discourse, and divisive, dehumanizing rhetoric toward students with traditional or conservative identities.
Some campus groups have passed resolutions condemning conservative voices for “seeming intent to intimidate, degrade, and dehumanize” marginalized political minorities (e.g., conservatives, libertarians, or religious students). The petition’s rhetoric frequently targets conservative, libertarian, and traditional identities, as well as linkages to alleged “extremist” behavior and conspiratorial narratives—often based on vague “independent investigations” with no verifiable evidence.
The anti-TPUSA petition and its supporters have been tied to ideological echo chambers and cancel-culture tactics in independent reporting. The movement embraces suppression theories (e.g., around “harmful speech” or “unsafe climates”) in ways that undermine legitimate discourse. They also benefit from outsized external support and a national agenda. This is not just a student petition—it’s a well-coordinated national network with media amplification, deploying local chapters as ideological enforcement units. This turns campus engagement into censorship campaigns, rather than student-led discourse, undermining free speech under the guise of protecting it.
The petition claims to defend inclusivity, but systematically targets and suppresses perspectives it doesn’t like. They frame conservative speech as “bullying” while silencing critics with smear tactics, doxxing threats, or institutional expulsion. Allowing the anti-TPUSA petition to succeed with institutional support gives legitimacy to ideological purging, harassment, and political coercion. It creates an unsafe climate for students and faculty who hold conservative, libertarian, or dissenting views.
It contradicts Linfield’s values of inclusive dialogue, academic freedom, and respect for all voices. Banning TPUSA disproportionately advantages one political ideology on campus and biases the playing field.
We DEMAND immediate rejection of all efforts to suspend official recognition (club status, funding, space use, email lists) for TPUSA at Linfield.
A full institutional review of anti-TPUSA campaigns’ conduct on campus (including petitions, events, communications).
Adoption of a code of conduct for all student organizations and petitions that explicitly prohibits viewpoint discrimination, ideological exclusion, doxxing, hate speech against political beliefs, and coercive tactics, with enforceable sanctions.
A public commitment by Linfield to protect free speech for ALL ideologies without enabling censorship or political purity campaigns.
Alternative support for genuinely student-run discourse groups that promote civil debate across ideologies—left, right, center, and beyond.
We know Linfield is better than letting ideological gatekeepers and cancel tactics dictate who gets to speak on campus. We believe in open debate. We do not believe in organized suppression. We demand that Linfield stand for free speech for everyone—not just the approved few.
Signed by,
Linfield Students for True Free Speech and Ideological Diversity