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A Republican member of Congress seeking to support one of his constituents who accused her college of blocking attempts to start a new Turning Point USA chapter on campus was reportedly “blown off” by college administrators after he attempted to have a conversation with the school to better understand what was going on.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., sought to collect the facts regarding allegations from a Beloit College student that her college was preventing her from establishing a new Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter on campus. TPUSA was the conservative campus activism nonprofit founded by assassinated activist Charlie Kirk.
Additionally, the student, Jocelyn Jordan, accused her school of failing to adequately respond to a harassment campaign she and her classmates have been facing as a result of their efforts to start a new TPUSA club on campus. The alleged harassment initially included disturbing imagery posted on the group’s new Instagram page, referring to Jordan and her co-founders as Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members and White supremacists, but eventually devolved into threats.
“Our office reached out to Beloit College in good faith to discuss this matter and were blown off,” Van Orden said in a statement posted on his official X account. “That is unacceptable. Every student, regardless of political belief, deserves the right to organize, speak freely, and participate fully in campus life without fear of retribution.”
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An image of the lawn at Beloit College in Wisconsin is set next to one of the harassing images Republican students have received amid their efforts to start a new Turning Point USA chapter on campus. (Jocelyn Jordan and Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
According to Van Orden, his staff phoned the Beloit College President’s Administrative Office to set up a phone call between the congressman and the college’s President Eric Boynton on Monday. The congressman relayed that the office agreed to set up the phone call for later that afternoon.
But, a few hours before the call was supposed to take place, an attorney representing the school, Eric Rumbaugh, reached out and informed the congressman and his staff that Boynton would not be participating in the call on the advice of counsel. Seeking further clarification, the congressman personally called Rumbaugh back the same day, but his call went straight to voicemail. Van Orden left a message requesting a call back, but he told Fox News Digital that, to date, Rumbaugh has not called him back.
However, when reached for comment on this story, a Beloit college spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the voicemail had been returned a few hours earlier on Wednesday morning, two days after Van Orden left his voicemail with the president’s office.
“Beloit College did receive an inquiry from Rep. Van Orden, and it is correct that the college’s representative returned the call to Rep. Van Orden’s office,” a Beloit College spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement. “He had had a long conversation with Rep. Van Orden’s office at that time. Rep. Van Orden called back on the afternoon of the 10th and left a message. The phone call was returned this morning, and Rep. Van Orden has not since returned our call.” Van Orden’s staff subsequently told Fox News Digital that the congressman intends to return their on Thursday.
The decision by a group of Beloit College students to start a new TPUSA chapter on campus occurred in early October. A major part of TPUSA’s activism efforts include building support on campuses across the country through chapter clubs at various colleges and universities. TPUSA eventually even expanded to include high school chapters as well.
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Jordan and her classmates were directed by school administrators that there were a list of requirements they needed to meet before they could formally establish the club, among them – finding a faculty advisor. Every faculty member the students have asked thus far, including the dean of students, refused to help them, according to Jordan, who said she was advised to establish a group that does not have the Turning Point name attached to it.
Jordan also said a leading member of the student government on campus said that even if they were to find a faculty advisor, they still would not be able to establish a Turning Point chapter on campus because actions from the national level TPUSA organization supposedly violated Beloit College’s “Student Statement of Culture” policy.
In response to the accusations, a Beloit College spokesperson denied that faculty were blocking Jordan and her classmates from establishing a TPUSA chapter, telling Fox News Digital that the school has been “in full accordance with campus policies” and that all potential clubs must follow the same list of requirements.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden’s office reached out to Beloit College about students’ attempts to found a local chapter of Turning Point USA. (Provided by the office of Congressman Derrick Van Orden)
After Jordan and her classmates began promoting their club on social media in mid-October, a harassment campaign targeting the students for their efforts quickly followed.
Jordan said the university dismissed the students’ initial harassment concerns, telling them there was nothing faculty could do because they could not identify who was making the harassing posts. When the harassment devolved into threats, Jordan filed a subsequent police report, a move that appeared to spur greater action from the college, which eventually banned one of the main harassers from campus, who Jordan said was an alumnus working in food service on campus at the time.
“As a student, I should feel comfortable coming to campus no matter what beliefs I have, no matter what I identify as, no matter who I want to be. And, at this moment, I don’t feel comfortable,” Jordan told Fox News Digital.
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In addition to denying that the school was preventing Jordan and her classmates from starting their Republican student club, the school insisted that it is “committed to fostering respectful, open inquiry and encouraging a diversity of perspectives on campus.”
“The college takes all allegations of threats and harassment against students seriously, including recent ones related to the students interested in forming a Turning Point USA chapter,” the college told Fox News Digital. “Beloit College expects all members of our community to practice compassion and respect towards each other. We are an educational institution, and students learn best within a safe and vibrant campus environment.”
