Written by Brandon Lee Romo
The blatant discrimination against conservative college students continues as Point Loma Nazarene University, where one ASB leader blocked the creation of a “Turning Point USA” chapter on campus. Over 100 students on the Point Loma Nazarene campus were interested in joining the chapter.
Hannah Nelson, the PLNU student who aimed to start the chapter, explained that she chose this private Christian university with the hope that her education wouldn’t be affected by liberal bias. But she later “discovered that type of college does not exist. I have been consistently shut down, silenced, and harassed for my views at what is considered a private Christian university that preaches diversity and inclusion,” Nelson said in an interview with KUSI.
Hannah Nelson also described that “after three weeks of waiting anxiously to hear our status, it only took one person in ASB to say no to shut us down completely with no appeal process. The only reasoning we received was that the national Turning Point USA promotes problematic rhetoric.”
One of the reasons America is so great is because of the First Amendment, allowing for free speech and civil discourse. Especially with today’s polarization and tense political climate, the opportunity for students to have their differences of opinion and speak about it is something we should greatly value. The sad thing is that just about every college campus is afraid of exactly that, allowing students to hear conservative voices. And for PLNU ASB to block the creation of the chapter for “problematic rhetoric” clearly comes from a place of liberal bias.
The fact that just one ASB student, Jenna Moses, was granted full unanimous power to make decisions on ASB’s behalf without any appeals process is utterly ridiculous. PLNU has long granted permission to form groups such as the College Democrats, College Republicans, and Young Americans for Freedom. Jenna Moses stated herself that these clubs share similar “missions” to Turning Point USA. With that being said, there really is no rational explanation as to why a TPUSA chapter should not be allowed on campus.
Photo via Kamehameha Scholars
