Eastern’s core values of faith, reason and justice have made the university no stranger to social justice clubs and initiatives at Eastern. Alumni and faculty such as Shane Claiborne and Tony Campolo lit the way through the founding of clubs such as Youth Against Homelessness Complacency (YACHT).
The newest social justice club to arrive on campus is a controversial one for many reasons. They are not an official club on campus and instead have branded themselves as an “unofficial club.” Many students at Eastern saw an Instagram account pop up early in this fall semester titled “Unofficial Turning Point Eastern University.” This means they do not have the required things of a club, such as a faculty advisor, approval from the current SGA administration and a written constitution for their club’s values and mission.
Turning Point is a conservative faith-based social movement founded in 2018. In early September, the founder of the movement was assassinated while debating with a group of college students. Charlie Kirk’s death caused outrage and controversy from both sides of the current political climate.
Kirk was well known for debating college students and posting clips on various social medias, spreading their message through viral “hot takes.” Following his death, Turning Point received 54,000 inquiries about starting chapters of Turning Point (CNN). Eastern’s Turning Point chapter is the result of one of those inquiries. Although they are an unofficial club according to Eastern, they were officially affiliated with Turning Point’s organization.
When clubs or potential clubs form at Eastern there are many requirements and procedures they must follow, one of which is receiving student development approval. If the club is defined as a “controversial club,” it must get additional approval. The president of the unofficial club, William Tonnies, a freshman business student, shared that they were advised by faculty to change their affiliation to avoid being deemed a controversial club. The executive board of the unofficial club then unanimously voted to disaffiliated from Turning Point USA.
Tonnies explained, “Our affiliation was a root cause of their determination, and that what we would need to do from there on is up to us, however, the name would play a certain part.” They have not yet gone through the process to become a recognized club at Eastern. Tonnies cited the reason for the new lack of affiliation as being more concerned for safety due to the affiliation with a man who was assassinated because of his beliefs, rather than the organization being controversial or misrepresenting their beliefs.
Yet, they are not closing the door on ever re-affiliating with Turning Point, clarifying that “we believe what Turning Point currently is doing is a very positive and very impactful thing.”
The club will now be named Light and Liberty and will still be right-leaning, associating with the “conservative mindset.” One of their main shared beliefs is a belief in a secured border, although Tonnies clarified, “we have varying beliefs as to what that exactly means.”
The initial element Tonnies was drawn to of Turning Point was the conversation and argumentative element. When asked why not start a neutral debate or political club he responded, “While it is fantastic to start a debate club and generate that conversation, which is what we’re striving for, the other half of what what our specific group is striving for is to share our personal side of what we believe and kind of what we’re striving to see in our future.”
Now that they will no longer be affiliated with the official Turning Point, they need to make their own constitution. Tonnies admitted that although they have not yet written a constitution, they “intend to keep a lot of what TPUSA has in their constitution the same.” Things that will be changed will be letting Eastern students of any political association become members of the club.
Tonnies shared that the purpose of starting a Turning Point chapter at Eastern was to initiate hard conversations to foster a sense of a middle ground between the two warring parties. Tonnies cited misinformation as the reason for why there is a lack of a middle ground between the conservative and the liberal party, “not just misinformation, missing information,” he shared.
Tonnies continued, “They are missing crucial parts of the story that, again, leads them to that view of this super radical decision.” When asked about what the club’s sources are when they look at the facts, Tonnies cited their sources as past presidents and political affiliates, although he clarified that those should not be your only source of information. He continued, “A lot of our truth and what we believe is correct and morally right comes from both the Bible and biblical scholars and their interpretation of the Bible.”
When asked about other biblical organizations that are more left-leaning, such as the Red-Letter Christians, he cited it all to interpretation. The Red-Letter Christian’s mission is to serve Christ through physical justice actions just as Jesus did in the New Testament, which was founded by Eastern alumni, Claiborne and Campolo. But, the members of Light and Liberty wanted to be clear that they “never want to exclude anybody,” specifically in regards to queer people on campus.
Eastern has multiple faith-based clubs on campus that are not politically associated in any way, for instance, Wednesday Night Worship (WNW) and YACHT. Micah Chapman, president of WNW, shared that it is “a place for the community of Eastern to worship Christ in music and biblical encouragement to then lead into worship to God in the community’s whole life living.” The executive board of YACHT shared that their ethos is based on Matthew 25:40, with “the intention to share the love of Christ by looking for and acknowledging those who are often overlooked.”
Tonnies shared that he believes Light and Liberty fills a gap that is not currently offered on campus, led by members who “have a very strong faith-based religion as well as a sense of fiscal responsibility and a very united nation.” Tonnies added, “All of our morals come from essentially the Bible.” Tonnies and the rest of the club’s goal is to start conversations and foster a middle ground at Eastern. Their solution to this media vacuum is to continue to look at these arguments from a certain point of view based on their view of the truth.
Media vacuums have gotten more prevalent in the modern digital age, and for Eastern students, looking to sources such as Ground News – a source that easily compares new sources and report those exact media biases- are a tangible way for college students to start to have these conversations.
Eastern’s motto of faith, reason and justice is continuously shown in student organizations and movements as they attempt to have their voices heard. It is yet to be proven how the new club, Light and Liberty, will implement these three core pillars of Eastern.
