Turning Point USA (TPUSA), the national conservative group founded by Charlie Kirk in 2012, has opened a chapter on Calvin’s campus, celebrating its kick-off with 40 students in attendance on the evening of Thursday, Feb. 5, in the Meeter Center Lecture Hall. The chapter’s presence has spurred conversation among students and faculty about political dialogue at the university.

TPUSA’s mission is to “educate young people about the benefits of limited government, capitalism, free markets and freedom,” according to the organization’s website. Jaydon Gritters, sophomore and president of TPUSA at Calvin, added, “Another aspect to that is the faith side of things, and that’s especially what we are trying to incorporate here at Calvin,” and “to equip students to think critically and speak up for themselves.”

Leadership controversy

Early rumors surrounding the young organization concerning the makeup of its leadership team alleged that the leaders were not Calvin students. The chapter has confirmed that Jared Demoff, who was originally listed as the president of TPUSA at Calvin in early Instagram posts from Nov. 2025, is a student at Grand Rapids Community College. 

Calvin’s Student Org Handbook states that “student orgs exist to serve the student population,” and according to Jess Stehouwer, program coordinator for the center for student engagement, “Calvin student orgs must be led by current Calvin students.”

After being made aware of this detail by Stehouwer, Demoff has since transitioned into the role of treasurer for TPUSA at Calvin. Demoff is still participating in and helping run events that the chapter organizes on Calvin’s campus, though his leadership position is unofficial in relation to Calvin. The other members of the leadership team are all Calvin students as confirmed by Gritters, the now president.

A space for dialogue

The chapter opens in the wake of Kirk’s death on Oct. 10, 2025, when he was shot during a TPUSA event held at Utah State University. The leadership team identified that event as a key impetus behind why they wanted to open a chapter at Calvin.

Freshman and secretary for TPUSA at Calvin, Addison Peters shared her experience of learning of Kirk’s death, saying “I remember where I was, and I remember feeling a deep sorrow … he was just a really amazing person who did not deserve the ending he got.”

Jared Demoff, freshman and treasurer for TPUSA at Calvin, said, “His big thing was taking back America, and they tried to silence him. And that was a big reason why I stood up, because I wanted to keep taking back America, and I want to see change in this country.”

Gabby Demoff, freshman and vice president for the TPUSA at Calvin, said Kirk appealed to her in the way he talked about the importance of family and how “it’s so important as Christians that we be willing to stand up for what we believe.”

Gritters also mentioned the need for creating a space for conservatives to feel welcome at Calvin, saying, “In most classrooms you feel like you’re the only one with your values there.” He continued on to say that TPUSA would be there to show students “that there are other conservatives on campus and give them the courage to speak up for what they believe.”

Women’s basketball assistant coach John Ross, faculty advisor to TPUSA at Calvin, echoed a similar sentiment while addressing students at the TPUSA kick-off, saying, “Not all of the departments on campus always have conservative values.”

English professor David Urban commented on the political dynamics at Calvin, saying, “I certainly agree that many conservative students at Calvin feel like their voices are silenced … I know that quite a few conservative students self-censor in courses with professors whose views openly differ from theirs.” Urban tries to encourage an open environment in his classes, saying, “If we start discussing a controversial topic in class, I try to make clear that people can articulate their views freely and respectfully and that I won’t allow any ridicule.”

Jonathan Hill, professor and chair of the sociology and social work department, expressed a similar sympathy for students who feel that they aren’t heard in the classroom, saying, “We think pretty hard about how we are going to make all voices feel included here … I’m sure we fail sometimes, but that’s certainly the goal.” Hill emphasized a “listen first” approach to discussing difficult topics in class and continued, “I hope all students feel welcome, but I also hope they all feel challenged … and reflect on their own beliefs and why they hold them; that’s just a good education.”

Where conservative students are often understood to be outnumbered in most higher education institutions, Calvin has maintained a different ideological makeup than most universities in the country. According to data from the fall 2025 Student Senate Survey, 39 percent of Calvin students identify as Republican, 28 percent identity as Democrat, and 33 percent identity as independent or disengaged. This stands in contrast to the national trend as examined in North Dakota State University’s 2025 American College Student Freedom, Progress and Flourishing Survey, which reports that nationally, 52 percent of college students identify as liberal, 25 percent as conservative, and 23 percent as independent or apolitical.

Hill spoke about how discourse is different at Calvin compared to other schools because “we have a shared mission and project that’s bigger than the political situation … we’re all trying to figure out how to become these agents of renewal, figure out vocation and purpose.”

Luke Harlow, a senior at Calvin, has found that often the experience of disagreeing with a professor can be “cause for excitement rather than offence” at an institution like Calvin. “The culture here invites discourse … and professors love it when students are doing their due diligence of asking the right questions and not taking things at face value,” said Harlow, adding “Even in the places where I may feel outnumbered, I feel that because of the environment of civil discourse that Calvin has curated, I need not feel threatened by those who hold different opinions than I do. And if anything, it’s all the more reason to embrace curiosity before judgement of that person.”

Harlow continued, questioning the need for a new conservative space on campus in order to have good dialogue, saying, “I can understand the anxiety that comes along with feeling that you don’t belong in certain contexts; however, I think that there are a lot of contexts in which if they want to engage critically, that there are existing spaces in Calvin where that is welcomed.”

One such space is the long-established student org, the Political Dialogue and Action Club (PDAC). According to PDAC president George Holmes, PDAC’s “‘bread and butter’ is choreographing discussions on important issues that bring together professors with unique perspectives so that students, regardless of their own beliefs, come away from our events more informed.”

While both PDAC and TPUSA are expressly non-partisan, PDAC itself does not have any particular ideological alignment or agenda. PDAC has previously hosted diverse panels and discussions on issues such as the war in Gaza, abortion, economics and foreign policy with the goal of sharing with students “how to engage with challenging views in a productive way,” said Holmes.

To Urban, PDAC and TPUSA represent different, but not mutually exclusive approaches to dialogue, saying, “Charlie Kirk was probably best known for his public conversations with people who challenged his views. I’d say that his ‘Prove Me Wrong’ motto invited a more adversarial form of dialogue than PDAC tends to foster.” According to Urban, “A more adversarial forum can potentially foster a less respectful brand of dialogue, which is a problem, but it might also allow for more topics to be covered.”

For Gabby Demoff, TPUSA’s tabling events are one of the things she is most excited to undertake this semester in order to have open dialogue with other students, saying, “It’s what Charlie [Kirk] did a lot, and it’s a really good way to hear people’s opinions from a different side.”

Harlow recalled past experiences with TPUSA, saying “I think that what we have seen from TPUSA in the past is a forum for people of right-wing political ideology to use … methods based in sophistry, wanting to debate for the purpose of winning and stirring up emotion and getting big reactions out of people … rather than of having a good faith dialogue.”

Past controversies

In 2022, under previous leadership during its first time on campus, TPUSA at Calvin faced backlash over an allegedly antisemetic Instagram post featuring Kanye West, according to previous Chimes reporting.

In 2017, then Calvin professor Joseph Kuilema was placed on Turning Point USA’s Professor Watchlist, which seeks to highlight professors “who discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom,” according to the website. The move faced backlash from Calvin professors who signed a letter published by Chimes to TPUSA asking to be added to the list in protest. No action was taken to remove Kuilema from the list, or add any other professors, with Kuilema still listed under Calvin University on the site, though he has since moved on to teach at Grand Valley State University.

According to Gritters, the chapter is not going to “actively seek out professors here at Calvin and put them on such a list.”

Early obstacles

According to Gritters, TPUSA has been facing “very minor pushbacks so far, especially relative to what you’re seeing on the media,” including “nasty comments on social media and a couple DMs.” 

Additionally the group has faced issues with their posters disappearing from campus bulletin boards, with Gritters commenting that every time he has put posters up, later when he goes back through “there’s not a single one left,” and is now working with Campus Safety to identify who has been taking down posters. “Taking down posters promoting open dialogue seems backwards to me,” said Gritters.

Overall, Gritters was “quite proud of how the student body has been reacting,” mentioning that in responding to criticism, the chapter’s policy is to “react with patience and politeness and just invite people to come speak their opinions.”

Peters encouraged students to come to a TPUSA event, saying, “I just think the best times are when you get in conversation with people that you don’t agree with because not only can they learn from you, but also, I can learn so much from them … There are so many people out there that I would love to meet and have great conversations with.”

Harlow expressed hope for the future of good dialogue on campus, saying “We are rooted in Christ, and the intellectual pursuits of the Reformed tradition, seeking to engage critically with the world and build the kingdom. I think that is a much more profound and rewarding pursuit than simply debating, simply pointing out the skin-deep differences in our political ideologies. I am hopeful that our shared mission and identity can overcome these shallow ideological differences.”