The Student Senate has debated whether to recognize a chapter of Turning Point USA on Lehigh’s campus since March, following a recommendation for approval from the Club Affairs Committee.
A lack of Senate transparency, miscommunications and administrative interference in TPUSA’s approval process have left some students frustrated, particularly amid ongoing conversations about racism and campus climate.
On March 3, senators voted three times against approving TPUSA for a trial period. Administrators, including Provost Nathan Urban, encouraged approval in the name of free speech.
Many senators cited disagreement with the right-wing organization — founded by the late political activist Charlie Kirk — and its messaging as their reason for disapproval.
After the denial, two senators who didn’t identify themselves motioned internally for a re-vote. The vote, scheduled for the Senate’s April 7 meeting, was postponed when the meeting ran late.
On April 9, Senate President-elect Drew Smith, ‘27, announced the Senate wouldn’t re-vote on TPUSA’s trial period after the senators who proposed reconsideration retracted their request following heated debate at the April 7 meeting.
The Brown and White spoke with student senators, a TPUSA executive board member and faculty about the approval process. Discussion focused on internal Senate communication and what comes next for both the Senate and TPUSA.
Club approval process and vote of disapproval
All clubs seeking Senate recognition must submit an application to the Club Affairs Committee and be evaluated using a point-based rubric across eight categories. Organizations that pass are recommended for a full Senate vote.
Smith said Ryan Evans, ‘29, the former TPUSA president and a former senator, submitted the organization’s application and completed the standard interview process.
Edward Grinnan, ‘29, a member of the Student Outreach Committee, said Evans was on the Club Affairs Committee during the process but wasn’t allowed to complete a rubric for his own organization.
“Not only did (Evans) work closely with (the Club Affairs Committee), he would have theoretically had inside knowledge of how the rubric works,” Grinnan said. “So (one) would think someone on that committee would know the correct and best way to get a passing score on the Club Affairs rubric.”
Smith said all committee members undergo training at the start of the semester to ensure unbiased judgement. He also said members involved with an applying club neither complete a rubric nor evaluate any organization during that cycle.
“The only potential source of bias would be familiarity with the committee’s members, but that goes for any club’s executive board having any ties with any member on the Club Affairs team,” Smith said. “Given the bias training and uniformity of each rubric’s grading, the objectivity of the Club Affairs team — in my eyes — still remains intact.”
Grinnan said Evans didn’t identify himself as TPUSA’s president nor formally recuse himself until after the first round of voting on March 3.
Smith, Grinnan and Ryan Hatfield, ‘26, chair of the Club Affairs Committee, confirmed Evans has since resigned from both the Senate and TPUSA.
Evans also confirmed his resignation and his plan to transfer next semester in an email to The Brown and White. He’s since joined the executive board of a new campus chapter of BridgeUSA, which aims to address political polarization through dialogue.
Evans said after TPUSA was denied, he no longer identified with the organization and instead joined BridgeUSA to connect people across the political spectrum.
The current president of TPUSA, who requested The Brown and White keep them anonymous to prevent impact on future professional opportunities and to avoid any unwanted personal harassment, previously served as the organization’s secretary. They said they were present when the organization first presented to the Club Affairs Committee.
TPUSA received a passing score on the committee’s rubric, leading to its recommendation for a full Senate vote.
The president said those scores were allegedly leaked before the committee presented the Senate, prompting a petition opposing TPUSA that gathered more than 700 student signatures.
They said the petition focused less on TPUSA itself and more on quotes from “The Charlie Kirk Show” that some students viewed as problematic.
“Turning Point as an organization is separate from whatever Kirk said on his podcast out of context,” the president said. “Even the Provost, Nathan Urban, was saying how we shouldn’t be discriminating against people that we disagree with.”
The president said they weren’t given an official reason for the denial after the March 3 vote. They also said senators allegedly discussed changing rubric scores to zero in the “benefit to community” category.
According to Senate bylaws, club officers must be notified of approval or denial within five academic days. The president said they emailed the Senate three times and didn’t receive a response for over a month.
They said the Senate responded only after they copied TPUSA’s faculty adviser, Lehigh’s assistant general counsel.
Re-vote conversations and rubric backlash
Following the denial, two senators motioned to rescind their votes and reconsider TPUSA. During discussions on April 7, senators debated whether personal opinion should factor into approval decisions.
Mariana Roldán, ‘28, chair of the Senate’s DEI committee, said much of the debate centered on TPUSA’s passing rubric score.
Hatfield said he strongly supports the rubric system and that every club is entitled to reliable justification for why it was denied.
“Without that specific feedback that the rubric allows for us to provide, (our) decisions and (our) feedback can be very broad or very inconsistent from club to club,” Hatfield said.
Political science professor Dean Caivano, who works with many senators in his classes, said students have raised concerns about the club-vetting process and lack of transparency.
While he said rubrics can be useful, he emphasized the importance of incorporating student perspectives.
He also said a rubric may not fully capture concerns about organizations such as TPUSA, including targeting minority communities with harmful language and hate.
“My hope is that (the) Senate goes back to the drawing board and recognizes that while a rubric may be a helpful tool, it may not be the only tool,” Caivano said. “Having the voices of students, perhaps more involved in the club process affair, may be something the Senate could greatly benefit from.”
Roldán said while the rubric promotes objectivity, it can’t ignore senators’ opinions.
“There’s just human factors that you can’t remove from the whole process,” she said. “You can’t expect Senate to just fall under that rubric, right? I feel like the emphasis on the rubric was just falling on deaf ears because it was something that we had already been told in the past and it didn’t work to change our vote then.”
Where TPUSA stands now
Roldán said she doesn’t expect further Senate discussion on TPUSA this semester after multiple failed votes.
She said the denial applies only to the current semester and TPUSA may reapply in the future.
The president said a TPUSA chapter existed at Lehigh in 2018 that functioned more as a friend group than an official club. They said interest in reviving the group began after Kirk was shot in September.
Roldán said a senator who knew a student that went to Lehigh when the previous chapter was on campus said it was allegedly banned because it hosted an event that involved slurs and hate speech. But she said there is no written evidence that confirms this happened, likely because they weren’t a Senate-recognized club.
TPUSA’s president said they plan to appeal the decision to the Dean of Students, arguing TPUSA met all rubric requirements.
They said their primary concern is that the Senate ignored the Club Affairs assessment and instead allegedly tried to manipulate the score and deny the organization for no official reason that they’re aware of.
“If there’s no criteria for how you’re allowing clubs to be recognized, then it’s just a bunch of students in a room who are just voting based on how they feel,” the president said.
Smith confirmed the president has filed a report with the dean.
The president said TPUSA would focus on discussions about topics like capitalism and broader political issues, distinguishing it from the College Republicans’ focus on elections.
Smith said concerns about potential lawsuits have been raised, noting other TPUSA chapters have sued universities over free speech issues.
He said administrators from Lehigh’s General Counsel viewed Senate bylaws documents after TPUSA’s application, which raised concerns.
“As the Vice President of Internal Affairs, I spend too much time looking at the Student Senate bylaws,” Smith said. “Exceptionally rarely — before Turning Point’s application to become a club — did I ever see anyone else on the Student Senate bylaws document.”
However, Smith said there’s no evidence of a pending lawsuit and he’s not concerned in the immediate future.
Community reaction
Roldán said the administration can’t address racism on campus while supporting the approval of an organization like TPUSA. She also said the Senate’s decision sends a broader message about its stance on campus issues.
Roldán said Urban’s stance on TPUSA is easy for him to assume as a straight, white man who wouldn’t be targeted if TPUSA were to exist at Lehigh.
“I don’t think there’s any intentional malignance behind (Urban’s) championing of Turning Point,” Roldán said. “I think it’s just blissful ignorance and blissful naivety when it comes to what he thinks won’t happen if they’re allowed on campus.”
Despite the controversy, she said the situation has encouraged conversations about transparency and communication within the Senate.
Caivano said the approaching end of the semester may limit further discussion.
“The way in which this administration has put their eggs in the basket in support of approval (of TPUSA), and the way this administration has, in my opinion, consistently failed to properly address ongoing racial issues with the student population speaks to, their approach,” he said. “And their approach may be to simply run out the clock on the semester and to hope.”
He also expressed frustration that more faculty aren’t engaging in discussions about the potential impact of TPUSA.
Caivano cited initiatives like the Professor Watchlist — which publicly identifies left-leaning professors — as issues requiring broader faculty response.
He said the community should continue advocating for equity, justice and diversity.
“I would encourage faculty and students to not get lost in the shuffle of finals and to remain vigilant and to continue to have conversations across lines,” he said. “That includes with administrators, with students and the faculty.”