To the administration, the students, and the community: don't allow hate into our school!

Conservative youth activism network Turning Point USA (TPUSA) recently opened a new chapter at Lyons Township High School, and the students from this chapter plan to apply for official club status in the near future. If their application is accepted, they will receive not only the full endorsement of the school, but also an organizing space, a faculty sponsor to assist them in their activities, and funding. This group is also connected to the right-wing Leadership Institute, an organization that trains young conservatives for jobs in business and politics; TPUSA’s Youth Leadership Workshop at the LaGrange Country Club on March 11th, 2021 was coordinated by the institute, and the national leadership of these groups consider each other partners and collaborate frequently.

While we, as student activists from Lyons Township, respect everybody’s right to political autonomy and free association, we are greatly troubled by the possibility of Turning Point USA and the Leadership Institute becoming involved in the political scene at our school. Both of these groups have long histories of friendly relations with neo-Nazis, white nationalists, and various other bigots, as well as direct involvement in their organizing efforts. People who advance such detestable causes as these have no place in our community, and as such, we urge the administration to deny them our school's endorsement.

Lyons Township has a complicated history with hate, and this history must be reckoned with and rectified. Among other controversies, our school was home to racist minstrel shows in the 1940s, many of them coordinated by a music teacher; school officials allowed neo-Nazi Nicholas Fuentes of the class of 2016 air time on official school media and a position on our student council; and the administration outright refuses to act each time students bring up concerns about the school's hateful environment, even when presented with evidence that students are being threatened with hate crimes. The administration has largely succeeded in using placating half-actions, including the formation of a highly-exclusive "focus group" which supposedly discusses matters of inclusion at LT, to temper the waters surrounding this issue, but we refuse to allow them to forget their role in allowing and promoting hate. Superintendent Tim Kilrea and Principal Brian Waterman have been members of the administration for years, and they are both responsible for this legacy. It is up to them to take action, and denying TPUSA their endorsement is a great starting point.

We write this petition with a unique sense of urgency following the unfortunate news of the incidents this past December and January. For those not yet aware, the First Congregational Church of LaGrange, only a short distance from North Campus, was the target of two hate crimes in roughly a month. In December, Black Lives Matter banners were cut down and stolen from a light post, and in January, an LGBTQ+ pride flag was removed from the flagpole and burned, left on the sidewalk to be found the following morning. These incidents are evidence that hateful people are becoming emboldened in our community. We cannot let this go unchallenged.

Waterman and Kilrea have failed to stop hate before. They must not fail again.

A document detailing the links between Turning Point USA & the Leadership Institute and hateful ideologies can be found here. A second document containing evidence of this particular branch’s links to hate can be found here. A final document detailing Fuentes’ legacy of hate and his involvement in his time in our school can be found here.

If anybody has anything to add, including any contributions to the documents, you can send us an email at chicagolandstudentsunited@gmail.com or leave a note on the petition.

Keep Lyons Township hate-free!