The University’s Turning Point USA chapter, a conservative student-led organization whose national organization was co-founded by Charlie Kirk, said it has seen a significant increase in event attendance since Kirk’s assassination on Sept. 10.
Jenna Stewart, president of TPUSA Alabama, said the student organization now has over 900 GroupMe members and over 11,000 Instagram followers.
Will Notarfrancesco, vice president of TPUSA Alabama, said the increase in membership has been a “big blessing” and has enabled the group to organize events and tabling that they haven’t had “enough manpower to do.”
“Overall, a ton more people are showing up, showing interest, and keep coming back. What our coordinators said at our first meeting after Charlie’s assassination was, ‘Don’t let this be a convicting thing for just a few weeks. Keep showing up,’” he said. “They’ve all responded to that, and we’ve had hundreds of people show up every meeting. Obviously, we would not have wanted the circumstances, but God works in mysterious ways.”
Parker Hull, a junior majoring in accounting, said he’s attended TPUSA Alabama’s events since the beginning of his sophomore year and noticed the influx of students since Sept. 10.
“Charlie Kirk’s death woke people up, and they wanted to get involved more because they saw his courage and that he died for his beliefs,” Hull said. “They realized that they weren’t actually doing that much for the causes that they professed were important.”
Elijah Fox, a junior in electrical engineering, became a new member this semester and said he has come to every meeting and volunteered with the organization.
“After Charlie Kirk’s death, the reactions I saw from people on the right who talked about his Christian testimony really touched me,” Fox said, adding that he was also motivated by others “cheering on” Kirk’s death. He also said he saw people dressing up as Kirk for Halloween with blood on themselves.
“I find that so disgusting,” Fox said.
Nationally, TPUSA has had over 54,000 more inquiries about forming new chapters following Kirk’s death. Along with college campuses, chapters have also emerged in high schools, especially in Florida with the active support of Gov. Ron Desantis.
“It catalyzed the movement even more and gave it an even bigger spark than what Charlie was already doing,” Notarfrancesco said. “I think that it’s just going to keep going, getting bigger, and moving forward from here.”
Alongside higher numbers, Kirk’s assassination led to a higher security presence at TPUSA Alabama events. While weekly meetings have remained fairly laidback, larger speaker events now have a security team and UA Police Department present, as well as stricter RSVP rules and a no-bag policy.
“At the Jeff Durbin and Bradley Pierce speaker event, they had us walk through metal detectors and had event staff and everything,” said Addison Curtis, a freshman majoring in nursing. “They were counting us and only letting a certain number of people in at a time.”
Though security and attendance have increased, the group’s values have not changed. If anything, they’ve been fortified.
“The types of topics and speakers have been very similar to the ones I’d been to before,” Hull said. “One was anti-abortion and the other was religious. The most recent speaker event was with Bradley Pierce, who is an attorney who writes for life and abortion abolition legislation, and Jeff Durbin, who is a pastor. I’d say that’s pretty on par with previous events.”
Madelyn Downs, a sophomore majoring in communicative disorders, said Kirk’s “legacy will never die” and that it’s empowering to see how the organization has grown.
“It’s really fulfilling to be around like-minded people,” Downs said. “I find a common interest with everyone here, and that’s what motivates me to keep coming back every week.”
Notarfrancesco said the chapter has been trying to “emulate what [Kirk] wanted,” adding that it wants to continue his legacy in weekly meetings.
“The whole reason he even started going to college campuses in the first place was just to start conversation, so that’s what we’re focused on,” Notarfrancesco said. “What we’re doing here on campus, and what we do at our meetings is bringing up current events and letting people speak on what they want. We encourage people to bring their own topics because sometimes they want to talk about stuff that we maybe have not seen, so we just hope to be a catalyst for conversation.”
