The University of Kentucky is investigating its Turning Point USA chapter.
Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is a conservative nonprofit organization founded by Charlie Kirk. According to Turning Point, its mission is to “identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government.”
After receiving an anonymous tip reporting bullying, “repeated instances of discriminatory harassment,” and “rhetoric normalizing violence” in the chapter’s online chat, FOX 56 reached out to school officials.
“This has been referred to the appropriate officials for review. The comments, if true, are wrong and concerning. We must be committed to values of respect and civility,” UK spokesperson Jay Blanton wrote.
Giovanni Rozzi is a UK student. He said he learned about TPUSA during the university’s “K Week,” which aims to welcome new Wildcats to campus with programs and events designed to help students meet new people and see what the university has to offer.
“I was an active member till about two weeks ago,” Rozzi told FOX 56.
After the first meeting, he was invited to join the chapter’s group chat.
“You would scan a QR code, and you would get in no matter what,” he explained. “Anybody could join. It was basically an open club for everyone. Nobody really thought of anything bad.”
Eventually, the messages Rozzi received prompted concerns.
“I had ‘leaked’ it to a friend of mine to basically like, ‘Hey, is this wrong?’ Because we were starting to see a little bit of racial discrimination, and then we went back to October, and we were just seeing the same pattern,” Rozzi said. “We all started reading them, and we realized that they were targeting people.”
Then on Dec. 9, a report showed that university police received a call from a concerned staff member. One of her students had “expressed fear for his safety due to comments made by members of UK’s Turning Point USA organization.”
Read the rest at Fox56 News.
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