A student at a small Ohio college faces resistance when starting a Turning Point chapter
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A determined student at Baldwin Wallace University in suburban Cleveland, Ohio, says she faces resistance from classmates. Turning Point USA Chapters on campus.
“We never had the momentum that we needed and the support that we needed, but this year, after Charlie Kirk’s murder, it’s such an unfortunate situation that it gave us the push we needed to do this and get on campus,” said Grace Pruchnicki, senior, Fox News Digital.
Pruchnicki said she will serve as president of the new chapter, which has not yet been officially recognized by the university. She said she is working with Student Services to complete the accreditation process.
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A student at Baldwin Wallace University in Cleveland, Ohio, says she’s facing resistance from peers as she works to start a Turning Point USA chapter on campus. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images)
Pruchnicki said she wanted to start a Chapter Turning Point USA Last year, but the shock after Kirk’s murder.
“It brought out a lot of people who were afraid to speak up, and finally we all came together and were able to get this started and we’re in the process of getting it approved right now,” Pruchnicki said.
Pruchnicki said the group is close to being recognized, adding that it has brought hostility from fellow students.
“We’ve had people tear down our posters every day, we’ve had people fill out a common interest form so we can have a list of people to contact when we start meeting, and we’ve had a lot of hate speech in forms people fill out,” she said.
Charlie Kirk speaks before he was killed during a Turning Point visit to Utah Valley University on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Orem, Utah. (The Deseret News via Tess Crowley/AP)
Despite the backlash, she said Baldwin Wallace The professors are more supportive.
“We have a really supportive advisor who is helping us a lot,” she said. “I’ve personally had a lot of professors from all different departments on campus reach out to me and say, you know, they support everything we’re doing and if we need any help, they’ll help us 100%.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Baldwin Wallace University for comment.
A student on campus, Carly Voltz, who is listed as the president of Baldwin Wallace’s Students for Justice in Palestine group, started a petition to stop the TPUSA chapter.
Voltz Customs Fox News Digital This petition is her personal initiative and is not affiliated with Students for Justice in Palestine.
“I started the petition to gauge how many students at BW would oppose the opening of a Turning Point chapter on our campus,” Voltz said. “I saw a lot of students expressing concern, and I wanted to put a number behind that concern so people know it’s not just students. The petition currently has 198 responses, although not all of them are from BW students, and the petition was only circulated through social media.”
“All I know is that it had about 100 signatures,” Prachnicki told Fox News Digital. “About a month ago, I’m not sure where she is right now. I don’t have access to any of that information because it’s all blocked from me.”
Pruchnicki said she would tell students who are in a similar position and are worried about the potential consequences or pushback of starting a lesson to take on the challenge.
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“If you really believe, it’s 100% worth it,” Pruchnicki said. “I was very afraid to do this and to do this, especially … taking on the role of president.”
“But it’s very important to stand up for what you believe in,” Pruchnicki added. “I think we need to have an open dialogue that shows a turning point to be able to find some common ground. And, you know, you might. You might lose friends, you might have pushback, but you’ve got to keep your head up and just know that, you know, because you’re getting pushback that means you need it more.”
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Requests for new Turning Point USA chapters have surged since the murder of Charlie Kirk last month. (Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images)
Requests for new Turning Point USA chapters have since increased Killing KirkThe 31-year-old co-founder and CEO of Turning Point USA was shot and killed on September 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University.
More than 120,000 students have inquired about starting new high school and college chapters in the weeks since Kirk’s murder, according to the organization.
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