By: Allison Grundy
A recent controversy arose when Turning Point USA (TPUSA), an organization promoting conservative ideas among students, listed Southern Adventist University as hosting a chapter on its website.
TPUSA is a national nonprofit that promotes conservative principles in educational settings across the United States, according to its official website. The organization was founded in 2012 by the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot Sept. 12, according to the New York Times.
On Oct. 15, Fulcrum 7 published an article titled “Turning Point USA Gets a Chapter at Southern University.” The claim was supported by a screenshot of TPUSA’s website, which lists Southern on its chapter map. However, the authors wrongly speculated the reason for the chapter opening.
“Apparently there is a new TPUSA startup at Southern Adventist University—perhaps in the wake of Charlie’s assassination,” the article reads.
The chapter was actually created in 2022 without permission from administration and has been inactive.
Fulcrum 7’s report led to much confusion and shock on social media, with some questioning why Southern would choose to host an official chapter based off the headline.
Amid the uncertainty, Dennis Negrón, vice president of Student Development, confirmed that Southern is not officially hosting a TPUSA chapter on campus. The discrepancy comes from the fact that the TPUSA website allowed former students to apply for a chapter without confirmed permission from the represented school, even though the website states that permission is required.
According to Negrón, an official request to start a TPUSA chapter from current students was made in Fall 2025 but was denied due to multiple reasons.
“The request to establish a chapter of TPUSA was received by the office of Student Life and Activities after the deadline for student organizations to apply, so there was never a vote ‘yay’ or ‘nay’ on it by the Student Development Committee…,” Negron stated. “However, had the deadline not been missed, the request would have been turned down for another reason—Southern does not admit chapters of political organizations, whether conservative, liberal or moderate.”
2022 TPUSA Chapter
On the TPUSA website, the officers listed from the inactive chapter are Izabel Sigulinski and Noel Hendrickson, both of whom are alumni of Southern. In an Instagram chat correspondence with Sigulinski, she claimed that the chapter was created in 2022, when she and Hendrickson were students and had an interest in starting a club on campus.
“It never became an official chapter on campus,” Sigulinski stated. “There were students who wanted to join, but it fell through because of conflicting schedules.”
She went on to explain how they were able to create an account without permission.
“The chapter was ‘created’ when I was a student at Southern back in 2022. But by created, I mean we only submitted the details (our names and description of the chapter as the screenshot shows) on the TPUSA website,” Sigulinksi stated.
Hendrickson, who was listed as the president of the chapter, said that the inspiration for starting it was their admiration for Kirk’s approach to having open conversation.
“We thought that starting a chapter would create a space for sharing ideas,” she stated.
The Fulcrum 7 article attached a photo of an Instagram account named @sauturningpointusa for Southern’s TPUSA chapter, which was created in Sept. 2025 according to Instagram’s “About this account” tool. This account is not linked to the TPUSA chapter that was created in 2022.
“I have no idea who runs the Southern TPUSA Instagram account,” stated Sigulinski, “but we didn’t have anything to do with it.”
The Accent reached out to @sauturningpointusa but they did not respond.
TPUSA fliers around campus
The chapter and Instagram account are not the only TPUSA related incidents that have occurred on campus.
On Oct. 14, some students reported finding 5-by-4-inch fliers with quotes from Charlie Kirk littered inside the Hulsey building and placed in stands on campus.
Emma Rodriguez, a senior political science major and former Collegedale editor for the Accent, was refilling Southern pamphlets around campus for Marketing and University Relations (MUR) when she saw the small fliers in each of the stands.
“These weren’t just in one stand, I found them in every one I checked. Each time, I reached in, crumpled them and threw them away, of course, because their presence felt deeply inappropriate,” stated Rodriguez in a phone text.
In photos of the fliers, some of the quotes, attributed to Kirk, read “Just because you are offended, doesn’t make you right” and “Tell someone about Jesus.” These fliers also had a link to the TPUSA’s website home page.
Andrew Davidson, a junior graphic design major, was at Hulsey for his morning workout on Oct. 15 at 5:30 a.m. when he noticed the fliers.
“It only caught my eye ‘cause of what happened to Kirk last month,” stated Davidson. “I do remember thinking that even though Southern, the institution, is more right-leaning, it’s still strange to see politics like that on the bulletin board.”
Darin Bissell, the facility manager at Hulsey, said that he hadn’t heard of the fliers and was on vacation during the time that they appeared.
“If I had found these postings, I would have removed them,” stated Bissell, “and if I was able to find out who posted them, I would have told them they would’ve needed to go through the proper channels before posting things in our building.”
All fliers and handouts must have a stamp of approval by the office of Student Life and Activities to be posted in Southern’s buildings and can only be put on specified bulletin boards, according to the Student Organization Handbook.
“Since the Hulsey Wellness Center is part of Southern Adventist University property, our policy is the same as the university’s regarding any political postings in campus buildings,” stated Bissell.
The Accent could not find a specific policy for political postings for campus buildings.
In an email to the Accent, Judy Sloan, dean of the School of Heath and Kinesiology, stated that she knew nothing about the fliers and didn’t comment further.
Some students at Southern were surprised to hear about the TPUSA activity on campus.
Rebekah Amann, a junior animation and graphic design major, said she feels Southern should address the rumors going on regarding TPUSA.
“Having quotes from Charlie Kirk floating around campus in general is going to cause a lot of controversy, even if it had nothing to do with Turning Point,” she said. “I feel like the school should clarify they are not doing it, and if someone is doing it, they should stop doing it.”
Bradley Pollett, a senior biology major, explained his opposition to a TPUSA chapter because of the foundation of Ellen White’s values on campus.
“Ellen White’s writing talks about avoiding entanglement in worldly politics,” stated Pollett. “Given that TPUSA’s primary mission is politics, allowing it on campus would contradict those values.”
For some, the thought of TPUSA presence on campus is concerning.
“It’s disturbing to see materials linked to Christian nationalism and extreme political ideologies infiltrating our campus spaces,” stated Rodriguez.
She added that, “The Adventist faith tradition should be based on freedom of conscience and separation of church and state, values that stand in direct contrast to the kind of messaging Turning Point USA often promotes. We should be aware about preserving our campus as a place of learning, inclusion and authentic spiritual growth, not one where political agendas are spread.”
Other students expressed the belief that having a TPUSA chapter on campus could open discussions and promote free speech.
“I believe that it is healthy for students and staff to experience all sides of the political spectrum and form their own opinions, instead of an organization trying to swing you one way or another,” stated Davidson.
When asked about TPUSA on campus, Davidson described Southern as being more conservative than other universities.
“[TPUSA tries] to combat modern liberalism in universities, but Southern is nowhere near as liberal as other universities, like state universities, so I’m not sure why they would want a presence here unless they want to make the school more conservative,” he stated.
Brandon Ermshar, a senior cybersecurity major, expressed the importance of open political conversation.
“Regardless of where your politics lie, you should always be able to have a healthy discussion about politics,” he stated.
