- Controversy is flaring over a Turning Point USA Club at Fremont High in Weber County, in the wake of Charlie Kirk's killing.
- Group members feel silenced and are seeking reclassification of the organization so they can harness more school support.
- Weber School District officials, though, say they followed state guidelines in granting it "non-curricular" club status.
PLAIN CITY, Weber County — In the wake of Charlie Kirk's death, the future of the Turning Point USA Club at Fremont High School has flared into controversy, with supporters worried they're being silenced.
"That's the main thing right now — we feel like we don't have a voice," said Race Martini, a Fremont senior and secretary of the club at the Weber County high school in Plain City. More specifically, as a "group" or "non-curricular club," the organization — like others in the same category — faces limits in the level of school support it can tap.
Group members' dialogue on the issue with school officials — who maintain that they are abiding by state law on the matter — dates to the start of the 2025-2026 school year last month. But the issue has surged to the forefront in the wake of the killing last week of Kirk, a conservative activist and founder of Turning Point USA. Group members and their backers have raised their voices, even launched an online petition to press the issue, which had garnered around 1,000 signatures as of early Wednesday afternoon.
"Whether TPUSA is classified as a club or a group, these students deserve equal treatment. Please sign this petition to support fairness, equal access and the right of Fremont students to learn and lead," it reads. The Change.org petition, launched over the weekend and revamped on Monday, asks that the Turning Point USA organization, deemed by school officials to be "non-curricular club" as defined by state law, have the rights of a "curricular club."
While the debate comes amid an outpouring of sympathy among many for Kirk, assassinated during a Sept. 10 stop at Utah Valley University, Weber School District officials say they have been guided by state law governing club formation, not politics or the political climate. School officials originally approved the creation of the Turning Point group at Fremont as the 2024-2025 school year came to an end.
"TPUSA's stated purpose in its application is to 'promote conservative political views.' The school district does not permit the formation of curricular clubs that promote partisan political ideologies," Weber School District said in a statement Wednesday.
"Just as an organization advocating liberal political views would not be approved, neither would one advancing conservative political views. While the district encourages and applauds political dialogue among students across the full spectrum of ideas, it does not teach, endorse or incorporate partisan ideology into its curriculum or subject matter."
Kirk himself espoused conservative, limited-government views, some of which are controversial and have been blasted by critics. The Turning Point mission, according to the organization's website, is to organize students "to promote the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets and limited government."
Aside from explaining the classification of the Fremont group, the district rebuffed earlier contentions by the Turning Point advocates that school officials had revoked or reclassified the organization's status. While a separate Change.org petition launched in July calls on Fremont High School officials to revoke the Turning Point USA group's charter, saying the organization "will make many students feel unsafe," school officials haven't acted on it.
"Unfortunately, the continual spread of misinformation has created a false perception surrounding the situation. For reference, TPUSA is currently listed on the school's website as a group and it remains in good standing," reads the district statement.
Curricular clubs are supposed to be linked to a school class. At Fremont, curricular organizations include the Robotics, Science, Latinos in Action and DECA clubs, among many others. Non-curricular clubs, or groups — the classification of the Turning Point USA Club — are student-initiated organizations, as described in state law.
"A non-curricular club's meetings, ideas and activities are not sponsored or endorsed in any way by (a local school district) governing board, the school or by school or school district employees," reads state code on the matter. Aside from Turning Point, non-curricular clubs at Fremont include pottery, mountain biking and public service organizations, among others.
Regardless, the issue remains touchy with Fremont Turning Point USA Club advocates, and they continue to weigh their options, spurred by Kirk's killing, even the possibility of legal action. The killing has sparked an uptick of interest in Turning Point, with more than 26,000 new "leads" for high school group chapters around the country, according to Tyler Bowyer, chief operating officer of Turning Point Action.
Tyler Robinson, 22, faces a count of aggravated murder, among other charges, for allegedly shooting and killing Kirk. Investigators say Robinson fired a single shot from a rooftop roughly about 175 to 200 yards away from Kirk.
For now, Martini said group members have applied to be reclassified as a curricular organization. Such a change, if approved, would allow the organization to set up booths at more school events, contribute to announcements read each morning to the student body, and use school buses to attend events as a group, among other things.
"We need to have our voices. We're not going to be silenced anymore," Martini said, noting an increase in passion among group members since Kirk's killing. "Our main guy, our leader, the guy that runs the whole show, he was just assassinated."
While Martini is skeptical about the prospects for change, he says the Turning Point group ties in to the school curriculum — history, government and civics classes — one of the requisites to be classified as a curricular club. He also rebuffs the notion that the Fremont Turning Point group is pushing a political agenda.
"We're promoting conservative values, but we're also promoting freedom of speech. We're promoting limited government, liberty, the Constitution," he said.
