Texas is launching a partnership with Turning Point USA to bring chapters of the conservative organization to every high school in the state. It comes as the group is surging in popularity nationwide.
Earlier this month, Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and Turning Point USA Senior Director Josh Thifault announced at a press conference their decision to expand Club America, Turning Point USA’s high school outreach program, to more high schools.
The clubs aim to “build strong networks, spearhead impactful initiatives, help students register to vote, and inspire meaningful conversations about the foundations of a free society,” according to their website.
More than 500 Texas high schools already have chapters, but Abbott sees value in adding more.
“There has been no moment in time during the course of this century when there was such an urgency and a need for an organization like TPUSA and Club America,” said Abbott. “They have helped to restore moral clarity, constitutional principles, and our founding values. I am grateful for the young men and women behind me and their peers across the state for stepping up and identifying themselves as the future leaders of the Lone Star State.”
Turning Point USA was founded by slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk and is now one of the fastest-growing organizations of campus chapters on colleges, universities, and high schools in the country. Since Kirk’s assassination in September, college chapters have increased from 900 to 1,400, and their Club America has gone from 1,200 student groups to 3,100.
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There are also more than 130,000 inquiries to start new chapters across high schools and colleges. In total, there have been 350,000 new student registrations.
As CBN News reported, Charlie’s widow Erika Kirk is now the CEO of Turning Point USA. In a recent interview with Fox News, she said the decision by leaders to encourage students to join TPUSA is “unbelievable.”
“It means that these kids, male or female, have an opportunity to be exposed to the truth and learn how to debate, learn how to stand up for their convictions and what is on their heart, and they are not afraid,” she said.
During Abbott’s announcement, he did not outline plans that would require schools to initiate the clubs, but warned against any action to stop the implementation of clubs.
“Let me be clear. Any school that stands in the way of a Club America program and their school should be reported immediately to the Texas Education Agency, where I expect meaningful disciplinary action to be taken place for any stoppage of TPUSA in the great state of Texas,” Abbott said.
Texas follows Florida and Oklahoma, which also launched partnerships with TPUSA to establish chapters in schools statewide.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced his state’s partnership in an October press conference, promising students that if they were barred from starting the club, they would have the backing of Florida officials.
“We want to make sure… anybody in a high school that wants to start a Club America chapter will be able to do so,” DeSantis said.
