The University of Arkansas chapter of Turning Point USA has disaffiliated from the national organization and rebranded, citing concerns that the group has become “reactionary” rather than “proactive” in a retracted statement.
“For some time now, it seems, the organization has lost sight of what is truly important,” wrote Dino Fantegrossi, a University of Arkansas student and the chapter’s erstwhile leader. The Instagram statement has since been deleted.
Fantegrossi, who has been involved with the campus chapter since his first semester and later served as its leader, said the group had drifted away from its original mission. He has rebranded the chapter at the University of Arkansas as Young American Revival, aiming to support grassroots efforts in Arkansas.
“We are generally put off by how Charlie Kirk has been used by TPUSA since his assassination. Statements like ‘Charlie would have said…’ and ‘Charlie would have wanted…’ have felt in many instances disingenuous and manipulative,” Fantegrassi said.
On Thursday, the chapter’s Instagram account removed Fantegrossi’s original statement and issued a new joint statement with TPUSA, apologizing for the original comments.
“We acknowledge that our first statement was unintentionally inflammatory and wish to apologize for the way we went about things,” the statement said. “We should have reached out to TPUSA before posting our statement and first attempted to address things privately.”
The disaffiliation followed an announcement last week by Turning Point CEO Erika Kirk and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR) to expand Turning Point’s Club America chapters into Arkansas high schools and colleges across the state.
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A TPUSA spokesperson described the disaffiliation as an “amicable moment” in a statement to the Washington Examiner, adding that the organization is “not at all” worried about other chapters leaving.
TPUSA is in the process of building a new chapter at the University of Arkansas and hopes to partner with the new organization for future events.
