April 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\nLast fall, interest in the right-wing group\u2014which maintains a Professor Watchlist of faculty it believes are advancing \u201cleftist propaganda in the classroom\u201d\u2014surged after its founder Charlie Kirk was killed. While hundreds of new campus chapters have since formed, some higher education institutions, including Barry University, have pushed back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to correspondence cited in Uthmeier\u2019s letter, Davey Jay, interim associate dean of student affairs for the law school, told students that Turning Point\u2019s \u201cmodel of political advocacy and confrontation\u201d is \u201cinconsistent with the University\u2019s educational philosophy” and that \u201cthe perspectives and methods associated with Turning Point USA do not support\u201d the university\u2019s mission. While the university \u201cvalues discussion of differing viewpoints,\u201d Jay added that \u201csuch discourse must occur in a context of intellectual humility, empathy and shared purpose, rather than ideological confrontation or partisan activism.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Uthmeier asserted in his letter Thursday that the law school\u2019s recognition of OUTLaw, a group focused on exploring legal issues faced by members of the LGBTQ+ community, proved that the law school discriminated against Turning Point.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile Barry Law denied official recognition for TPUSA, a student organization that promotes traditional religious values, it recognizes OUTLaw, an LGBTQ student organization that promotes transgenderism for children through the sort of ideological confrontation and activism for which Barry Law condemns TPUSA,\u201d he wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Uthmeier demanded that the law school \u201cimmediately cease its discriminatory practices and grant students equal access to form and operate a Turning Point USA chapter,\u201d setting a response deadline of May 15.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Barry University told Inside Higher Ed<\/em> on Thursday that it received the letter and was looking into the concerns raised.<\/p>\n