California Lutheran University is located in Thousand Oaks, California. It has about 3,500 students. Back in 2021, the school briefly had a TPUSA chapter but it was quickly disbanded after it created controversy on campus with a series of posters opposing socialism and supporting gun rights.
In a now deleted Instagram post, TPUSA was pictured standing at the spine near Ullman Commons on the day of their event. Members of the club were holding posters with sayings such as “Big Government Scares,” “Let’s get this bread! Because in a socialist country you can’t,” and “I’m pro choice. Pick your gun.”…
Many students took to social media to express their feelings towards the views shared by the club.
Maya Fleming, a senior senator for Associated Students of California Lutheran University Government (ASCLUG), made a post on her Instagram story saying that TPUSA’s pro-gun poster was insensitive as it pertains to a community that was affected by gun violence three years ago…
On Monday Oct. 25, ASCLUG shared a statement on their Instagram announcing that the executive board met with TPUSA, and the club decided they would disaffiliate from Cal Lutheran.
The statement also said that the officers of the club were, “apologetic for any negative impact that was caused by the tabling event,” and that they, “never intended to cause harm to the CLU community.”
In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s death, TPUSA approached the school about starting a new chapter. That effort was voted down after students decided they weren’t convinced they would be comfortable with TPUSA on campus.
In a 2-11-1 secret-ballot vote, Associated Students of California Lutheran University Senate failed to approve the reestablishment of a Turning Point USA chapter on Monday, Dec. 1. The meeting, attended by over 50 Cal Lutheran students, was standing room only.
“I wasn’t personally surprised by the outcome,” said Carlos Daniel Zaragosa, ASCLU Commuter senator. “At the end of the day, we do try to be fair, impartial and we want to see all clubs succeed. But we will notice when a club is trying to push a certain rhetoric, and the last thing we need is controversy here on this campus.”
The thrust of the opposition was over whether or not TPUSA could adopt DEI or not and whether people who disagreed would feel “validated” and “safe.”
Junior Senator Mathias Schmidt began the discussion by asking the two officers how they planned to specifically incorporate “diversity, equity and inclusion” into the club, in accordance with the university’s commitment to DEIJB…
Junior Senator Nadege Adibonou pressed the prospective officers about how the club would ensure the safety of underrepresented groups and make her feel her beliefs are “welcome” and “validated.” Taylor responded that Adibonou would be “invited to the mic” in hopes of finding a compromise or agreement.
“These club members are trying to say that they welcome everybody, but they could not tell me as a Black female senator here on campus how I can feel safe in their environment. They could not answer that question. How do I then feel comfortable enough to vote for this type of club if you can’t tell me how me and my friends could feel safe?” Adibonou said. “I do not think that this club deserves to have our funding.”
The prospective president of the club correctly identified the shell game being played here.
Tristan Quezada, the TPUSA chapter’s prospective president, told Campus Reform that “the biggest flaw the senate had was that they couldn’t distinguish between students feeling uncomfortable because their ideologies don’t align, with students feeling unsafe, it is that simple.”…
”The requirements laid out to me by student life were simple: Minimum of 5 members, having a club advisor, a constitution, and signed waivers. The comfort of every student is not a requirement and it shouldn’t be a requirement for a club at this institution, it would be contradictory,” Quezada continued.
No one would expect a liberal group on campus to make conservatives feel validated and safe. And no conservative would suggest that feeling a lack of comfort is the same as being unsafe. But this is the game that progressives have been playing on college campuses for a decade. People like Nadege Adibonou are too young to remember a time before this was the norm. It’s just a given now on a lot of campuses. If something doesn’t align with your politics, that means you’re under threat and that thing should be banished.
And, sadly, that’s what happened here. TPUSA will not be returning to campus unless someone in the administration explains to the students how viewpoint neutrality works.
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