St. John’s Rebuffs Turning Point USA Again: Ideology Trumps Free Speech

St. John’s University’s student government has again refused to recognize a Turning Point USA chapter, a decision confirmed publicly on January 28, 2026 that follows an earlier rejection and a history of resistance to conservative student groups. This second denial exposes a pattern at a school that proudly bills itself as Catholic yet tolerates ideological litmus tests from its own student leaders.

University officials pointed to the school’s four-round “Power to Organize” process as the reason for rejecting dozens of proposals, noting that only four of nineteen proposed organizations were approved during the fall 2025 cycle. Administrators say students can reapply or pursue department-sponsored alternatives, but that bureaucratic shrug rings hollow when a plainly lawful, nonviolent group is shut out.

This rejection comes amid an unprecedented swell of campus interest in Turning Point USA after the tragic assassination of its founder, Charlie Kirk, on September 10, 2025 — a moment that galvanized hundreds of thousands of students nationwide. The organization reports a tidal wave of inquiries and renewed enthusiasm on campuses, making St. John’s refusal look less like neutral procedure and more like a political dodge.

Students who tried to form the St. John’s chapter say they were treated disrespectfully during the approval process, with one applicant, Massimo Guerriero, alleging that their presentation was literally laughed at by student government members. The students stressed that their proposed club would have promoted civil discourse and the Catholic and Vincentian values the university claims to uphold, which makes the rebuff all the more baffling.

Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet laid out the details of the rejection on Fox’s Sunday Night in America on February 1, 2026, calling attention to the procedural inconsistencies and ideological double standards at play. Kolvet’s appearance made clear that this is not a one-off campus skirmish but part of a broader effort to silence conservative voices under the guise of process.

Patriotic Americans should be alarmed: when a Catholic university allows its student government to police viewpoints and block constitutionally protected speech, it betrays both faith and freedom. This university and others like it must answer whether they exist to educate free-thinking citizens or to indoctrinate students into a narrow ideological conformity.

Students who believe in debate, free markets, and limited government shouldn’t be pushed off campus; they should be welcomed into the marketplace of ideas where their arguments can be tested and strengthened. If St. John’s won’t live up to its stated mission, concerned parents, alumni, and faithful Americans should demand accountability and insist that Catholic institutions actually defend free speech rather than censor it.