The state of Indiana announced a partnership with the conservative, faith-based organization Turning Point USA aimed at expanding political engagement by students.
Gov. Mike Braun said the initiative will work to establish Turning Point USA and Club America chapters in high schools and universities throughout Indiana while organizing voter registration drives for students once they turn 18.
“We are the first that is proudly saying that we're going to work to actually, as soon as you're able to vote, get you registered to where you're buying into faith, family, community, freedom and opportunity, not the opposite,” Braun said.
Opponents of the plan say it takes local control away from schools.
“Student organizations have a right to exist and students have a right to fully, freely participate,” State Senator Shelli Yoder said. “This sounds a little bit more like it's state sanctioned, and that's where I think we're really, you know, crossing a line.”
Indiana is the eighth state to partner with Turning Point USA, joining Arkansas, Nebraska, Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Montana and Oklahoma. It is the first to specifically collaborate with the organization to help students register to vote.
Read more: Indiana officials further linking up with conservative group Turning Point USA
Braun said the initiative will help balance Democratic Party voter outreach efforts, particularly with the younger generation, which he said is increasingly leaning conservative.
“When you look at Gen Zers, more of them are interested in these values and willing to speak out loudly about it,” Braun said. “So, the day has arrived.”
According to a Public Religion Research Institute report, 27 percent of Gen Z identifies as conservative. This is more than millennials, but less than every other voting generation.
Last election, 43 percent of eligible Gen Z voters voted. Braun said he thinks putting Turning Point USA and Club America chapters in schools can increase this number.
Jared Stonecipher, Turning Point USA’s chapter president at Indiana University, agreed with Braun, saying the organization is about making students politically aware and engaged.
“We are technically non-partisan, and we welcome anyone of any background to come in and discuss things with us,” Stonecipher said. “It's all about giving students a place to speak their mind, ask questions, think about their future and be more oriented to shaping those decisions that will ultimately affect their future.”
The Turning Point chapter president said he believes Indiana’s current government leaders are aligned with Turning Point USA.
“Governor Braun is obviously very supportive of our organization. He's been involved, and I think he's been pushing for this partnership,” Stonecipher said.
Josh Thifault, Turning Point USA Senior Director of Major Gifts, said there has been a spike in interest in establishing chapters at schools since founder Charlie Kirk was fatally shot in September. Thifault said there were over 70,000 requests to start or join Turning Point chapters.
“We had a push back problem,” Thifault said. “A lot of the students wanted to start groups, but a lot of the administrators and teachers were pushing back against it.”
Valparaiso University in Indiana recently rejected a Turning Point USA chapter from rechartering.
Braun said the process for forming Club America and Turning Point USA chapters in schools will not change. He said schools won’t be required to form chapters, but they won’t be able to block chapters from forming.
It's not endorsing anything particularly. It's making sure you've got the freedom of speech to be as loud about your point of view as the other side has always exercised with high decibel levels.Gov. Mike Braun
“We're going to be proactive and say that this makes sense,” Braun said. “They're going to have the ability. We're going to be there for them to express their First Amendment rights.”
Braun said the state's involvement with Turning Point USA doesn’t risk viewpoint discrimination, rather it improves freedom of speech for conservatives.
“It's not endorsing anything particularly,” Braun said. “It's making sure you've got the freedom of speech to be as loud about your point of view as the other side has always exercised with high decibel levels.”
The partnership was unofficially announced in January by Hoosier-born conservative influencer Alex Clark. Yoder said some legislators are concerned this partnership could rubber stamp a right-wing faith-based organization going into public schools.
“I think that this is very different than free speech,” Yoder said. “This is a state sanctioned youth recruitment, basically going into our schools and basically putting the state stamp on it.”
According to the Equal Access Act of 1984, students and organizations have the right to form and operate clubs in public schools. It states schools cannot deny access to clubs based on the content of their meetings if other non-curriculum-based clubs are allowed and meetings are student-led.
Lieutenant Governor Micah Beckwith said the effort is about civic engagement, not political affiliation.
“It's not partisan,” Beckwith said. “This is not a Republican-Democrat thing. This is a pro America thing. This is about American values, American exceptionalism, things that set us apart from other nations around the world, what makes America who we are.”
A U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation study reported that more than 70 percent of Americans fail a basic civic literacy quiz on the three branches of government and the number of Supreme Court justices.
While two-thirds of Americans said they studied civics in high school, only 25 percent said they are “very confident” they could explain the system of government.
Beckwith said the clubs provide students a place to discuss politics and American ideals and while the clubs will not be mandatory, he hopes they form in all Indiana high schools.
“We have 290 school corporations in Indiana,” Beckwith said. “We would love to see club America in every one of those school corporations so that we can promote pro-American values.”
Braun said the partnership is about giving students a place to express their political views in places where the status quo has been to silence conservatives.
“This is never going to be to suppress the other point of view, because that's never happened in the past anyway,” Braun said. “That would be hypocritical.”
