(LifeSiteNews) — Conservative students who want to start a Turning Point USA chapter may have an easier time at Harvard University and Yale University than Catholic colleges, according to a group spokesman.
Spokesman Andrew Kolvet recently went on Fox News and said the Ivy League campuses are now more open to hosting chapters of the free-market student group founded by the late Charlie Kirk. Catholic and Protestant colleges, however, are throwing up more roadblocks.
“We are at a point now … where all the Ivy Leagues, which historically never let us form chapters, they’re all getting on board,” Kolvet told Trey Gowdy.
“And they’re lapping these private Catholic and Christian universities, they are time and time again the worst of the worst,” Kolvet said. (He presumably means “Catholic and Protestant,” since Catholics are Christian).
When Ivy League schoools are welcoming TPUSA on campus but Christian and Catholic colleges are not we have a BIG problem.
St. John’s
Loyola University
Xavier
Seton Hall
Azusa Pacific
Nazarene
Catholic UniversityWhat is going on in Christian higher ed? pic.twitter.com/5pA1ZZzbCZ
— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) February 2, 2026
There is ample evidence that Catholic and Protestant universities are rejecting TPUSA groups, including most recently St. John’s University in New York City. Loyola University in New Orleans also denied a TPUSA chapter. Kolvet lists other examples in his X post as well.
Turning Point groups have existed before at Ivy League colleges, Brown University being one example. But supposing that Kolvet is accurate in saying that the conservative clubs are now moving into Ivy League colleges, there are a few possible reasons why.
Since returning to the White House, President Donald Trump has correctly focused on problems at elite universities, including many Ivy League schools.
Universities including Harvard and Cornell have been under the gun, with each having to work out deals with the administration or file lawsuits to stop funding freezes. Just this week, Trump demanded $1 billion from Harvard as part of an ongoing conflict between the school and his administration.
It should be fairly clear to Ivy League administrators that anything that whiffs of conservative discrimination will only invite further scrutiny by federal officials. TPUSA and the White House are incredibly close, with Trump being among the first to officially announce Kirk had died from being shot. White House officials, including Vice President JD Vance, regularly speak at Turning Point events as well.
Therefore, if an Ivy League college denied a Turning Point group, it would only take a few hours before Trump officials and their friends at the conservative organization would be boosting the story, talking about it on podcasts, and causing immense pressure on the schools.
It probably is not some genuine support for free expression that drives Yale and Harvard, but rather simple understanding of who currently is in charge. Middle-ranked Catholic and Protestant colleges are simply not attracting the same attention from the Trump administration as the elite schools.
There is another reason why this situation could be occurring.
At Ivy League colleges, conservative students are relatively rare – just about 13 percent of Harvard students are conservative, for example. While there might be enough to get a nice meeting going or host an event, it’s unlikely to achieve a critical mass that will cause too many headaches for administrators.
Furthermore, the plethora of opportunities to hear from speakers at an Ivy League campus can easily dilute a Turning Point group – why hear from some right-wing influencer when a former secretary of state or Federal Reserve board member might be giving a talk that same day?
On the other hand, middle-ranked Catholic colleges that draw from suburban Catholic high schools are more likely to have a somewhat higher percentage of conservative students. As well, the genuine scholarly opportunities to hear from notable people may be lessened.
Therefore, a Turning Point group that brings in someone with even some notoriety, and does a little advertising, can probably still bring out 100 to 150 people to an event. That’s enough to cause a protest and cause headaches for administrators.
These are just theories, and it is not even clear that Turning Point groups are taking hold on Ivy League campuses.
Regardless, the national organization has social views closely aligned with the Catholic Church, with a strong emphasis on opposing abortion and gender ideology while supporting family life and parents. For this reason alone, Catholic and Protestant campuses should be embracing Turning Point clubs.