Villanova University takes pride in its core values of Veritas, Unitas, and Caritas, and these values, essential to our community, are in direct contradiction with the values of Turning Point USA. For this reason, we firmly oppose the proposal to establish a Turning Point chapter on Villanova’s campus. We would like to convey, in the strongest possible terms, the risk that this organization poses to the integrity, values and safety of our community. 

TPUSA has a history of generating hostile environments on college campuses, especially for students of color, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, first-generation students, religious communities, and other marginalized groups. Our objection is rooted in the behavior, documented harm, and patterns of harassment associated with TPUSA as an organization, and we encourage you to research the following examples and how they would contradict Villanova’s code of conduct:

• The former president of the University of Nevada’s TPUSA praised white supremacy—shouting, “We’re gonna rule the country! White power!”—and used the N-word in a leaked video.
  • A violation of our student handbook stating, ”discriminatory, bigoted, racist, or obscene conduct is considered most offensive” and is strictly prohibited.
• The University of New Mexico and Clemson University’s TPUSA chapters held an “Affirmative Action bake sale” with prices listed based on customers’ race. 
  • A violation of our student handbook prohibiting “conduct consisting of different treatment on the basis of race.”
• TPUSA chapters have hosted speakers—including Candace Owens, Kyle Rittenhouse, and Tucker Carlson—who are widely associated with harmful and divisive rhetoric toward vulnerable social groups. Their statements, such as asserting that immigration “makes our own country poorer, and dirtier, and more divided,” have frequently led to disturbances and contributed to disruptive campus environments.
  
  • These speaker choices violate our events and speakers policy, which prohibits speakers who create “a seriously intimidating, threatening… and uncivil environment” that undermine the event’s “educational purposes.”

Alongside students on campus, Villanova professors are publicly targeted on the Turning Point website. The Professor Watch List is a network aimed at “unmasking radical professors” on campuses who advance “leftist propaganda” in the classroom. Such a network seeks to silence particular scholarly views in the name of neutrality and in the process, destroy the academic careers of faculty, many of whom represent minoritized or vulnerable social groups. However, as noted in our faculty handbook, Villanova is committed to allowing professors “full academic freedom in teaching, in research, and in disseminating the products of their scholarship.”

TPUSA is not an approved Villanova student organization, and we urge you to sign this petition to protect our student and faculty community and uphold the core values of Villanova University by opposing the establishment of a Turning Point USA chapter on our campus. Help us ensure that our school is a place where all students can feel respected, supported, and safe.