Turning Point USA planned to establish a chapter at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln last year, but a small protest that grew into a prolonged political crisis put those plans on hold.
Video of the protest and footage of a Nebraska Union staff member asking the conservative activist group to move to a so-called "free speech zone" reserved for off-campus entities went viral, dragging UNL and Turning Point into a political fight that rippled throughout 2017-18.
State lawmakers cited the protest as evidence of bias against conservative students; university regents adopted new commitments to free expression and directed campuses to re-examine their policies; and a national faculty group sanctioned administrators for dismissing a lecturer.
If the August 2017 incident drove UNL into a rut, the local Turning Point chapter found itself stuck as well.
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The highly charged environment on campus made it difficult, impossible even, for Turning Point to find a faculty adviser, keeping its goal of becoming a recognized student organization, or RSO, out of reach.
UNL faculty found common cause against the group’s "Professor Watchlist," which Turning Point says exists to "expose and document college professors who discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom."
Amanda Gailey, an associate professor of English present at the Aug. 25, 2017, protest of Turning Point with a sign asking to be added to the watch list, said it exists to “intimidate faculty and destroy higher education.”
“We would be failing if we don’t let students know how unacceptable those beliefs are to most of us,” Gailey said in a phone interview.
But a year after the political flashpoint, Turning Point appears on track to gain recognized status, having found a faculty member to serve as its sponsor.
Benjamin Terry, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, said he believes students who want to launch a chapter at UNL should be given the chance.
"I'd hate to think that a student group could be excluded simply because some disagree with their equally well-thought-out viewpoints," Terry said in an email. "I've never had any problems advising student groups in the past, and I don't anticipate that this group will be any different."
Effects of 'Professor Watchlist'
Gailey said while she believes Turning Point to be “anathema” to the very institution the group is asking to recognize it, she said the chapter has every right to become recognized if it completes the required steps.
Both Gailey and Patricia Hill, a research assistant professor at UNL who was added to the "Professor Watchlist" this summer, said they found it disheartening that a colleague chose to advise a group that singles out professors with which it disagrees politically, however.
Hill was arrested earlier this year and charged with misdemeanor destruction of property after a protest at the Virginia home of National Rifle Association lobbyist Chris Cox.
While an Alexandria Circuit Court judge pronounced her guilty, Hill appealed the verdict and later pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct, which resulted in $94 in court fees.
Her profile on the "Professor Watchlist" doesn't accurately reflect the outcome of the case, she said, and even though she is rarely in the classroom, she says she's been targeted by Turning Point.
"I find it troubling that there's a faculty adviser who basically supports one of their colleagues being put on this watch list for something that has nothing to do with their job," Hill said in a phone interview Tuesday.
Other faculty who have been put on the watch list have been subject to increased scrutiny by Turning Point, Gailey said.
Creighton University Professor Fidel Fajardo-Acosta found himself on the "Professor Watchlist" in 2016 after making a joke about then-candidate Donald Trump in class.
Following an article published in the Omaha World-Herald in which he subsequently criticized the conservative group, Turning Point sent Farjardo-Acosta a cease-and-desist letter to abstain from commenting further on the group.
"Publishing these false statements is not protected free speech, but rather an intentional and calculated decision on your part to publish defamatory statements regarding Turning Point USA," read the letter obtained by the Journal Star.
Hill said she hasn't experienced any harassment or threats since being added to the "Professor Watchlist," but she wonders if that will change once UNL's chapter is formally recognized.
"Since I don't teach that often, I'm curious what the watch list is for," she said.
Grant Carstens, who took over leadership from Kaitlyn Mullen as president of UNL's Turning Point chapter, said the list is "a way for conservative students to know what they are getting into when they take classes from certain professors."
"It's not about going out to harass them," he added.
Working to grow chapter
Once Turning Point gains recognized status, Carstens plans to grow the chapter, partner with chapters at the university's campuses in Omaha and Kearney on events, and work to broaden UNL's free-speech guidelines finalized earlier.
"I think the big issue we had with the incident last year was that certain rules were restricting free speech in public spaces," he said. "I think we need to get rid of those restrictions, because those are still public spaces."
That doesn't mean Turning Point is waiting for the university's approval.
For the last year, the group has continued to "table" at the Nebraska Union, lugging its own equipment to student involvement fairs and other recruitment activities where it set up out of the way of recognized student organizations in order to avoid further entanglements.
It has also co-sponsored events with Young Americans for Liberty like Monday's "free speech ball," which encouraged students to express their First Amendment rights — from controversial beliefs to the humorous non sequitur — with a permanent marker on an oversized beach ball in observance of Constitution Day.
“We’ve got a big range of opinions,” said Ryder Haugh, a UNL junior from Hartington and member of Young Americans for Liberty, who joined Turning Point after "that business with the university last year."
“White privilege is a myth,” one student wrote, refuting calls for racial and social justice. “I support Colin Kaepernick,” wrote another, showing solidarity with the former NFL quarterback who became a political figure for his protests of police violence against black Americans.
Not every message was political. “Potatoes” was spread across the ball in big, thick letters, while another UNL student shared “I need a nap."
“It’s just trying to make people aware of their rights and that they do have the right to say what they want,” Haugh said, adding that the only offense he took was to students who declined to participate.
Neither Haugh, Carstens nor Malia Shirley, a recent Creighton grad who now works for Turning Point as a field representative for Nebraska and Kansas, said the group has faced any protest on campus this year.
There have been some intense debates at Turning Point tabling events, Shirley said, but nothing that rose to what she called the "incessant harassment and profanity" of the incident a year ago.
Ryan Lahne, interim director of Nebraska Unions, said there have been no problems regarding free speech or expression at the plaza, and no group has been singled out or given special privileges.
"We have been following what the intent of the Board of Regents' policy is," Lahne said, adding that staff members are committed to providing spaces for students, faculty and others to express themselves.
Terry said he believes Turning Point's presence at UNL shows that the university is inclusive to all viewpoints.
"On the whole, I think our community does this very well, and increasing viewpoint diversity will help us all grow and learn together," he said. "My hope is that we'll all work toward greater intellectual humility and curiosity as we grapple with the issues of our day."