By Ashlyn Beck | News Editor
TPUSA’s “This is the Turning Point” tour, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. tonight at Waco Hall, is a closed event and will not allow media access, a Turning Point representative told The Lariat on Wednesday.
Six members of The Lariat were denied credentials to TPUSA’s “This is the Turning Point” tour in an email from TPUSA’s press office.
“Your request for press access has been denied,” the email reads. “Your denial does not preclude you from future events. We appreciate your interest and thank you in advance for your understanding.”
The Lariat originally applied for credentials for three attendees March 18. Each member who applied received an email Saturday confirming their applications. They were told they would receive an update on their status 1 to 2 days before the event.
One applicant followed up on the email Sunday afternoon and was promised a status update on her credentials sometime Monday. She received a denial email Wednesday morning.
Turning Point Senior Copywriter Sha Cathey said the organization denied credentials requests from all media outlets and said the decision was made “in the best interest of our students.”
Cathey requested that media members not cover the event using General Admission tickets, saying they are “not media at that point” and warned reporters they could get in trouble.
In addition to The Lariat, several local outlets applied for credentials to the event. KWTX News Director Bob Walters said that all credentials that KWTX requested for the event were denied. The Waco Bridge, Waco Tribune-Herald and Reuters were also denied access.
Baylor is the fourth stop on this leg of TPUSA’s college tour. Previous stops include George Washington University, the University of Georgia and Ohio State University. At each stop, the respective schools’ student publications and local media outlets covered the event.
GWU’s student publication, The GW Hatchet, covered the TPUSA tour stop April 2 alongside local media outlets and had no issue obtaining credentials.
UGA’s student publication, The Red & Black, covered the event April 14. Red & Black Editor-in-Chief Katie Guenthner said she submitted four requests for media passes, and all four were approved the day before. Guenthner noted that the credentials application required her to submit detailed answers about the potential angles of the stories and what they planned to publish.
Lauren Savitsky, a staff member at OSU’s student paper The Lantern, said she covered the tour stop alongside coworker Austin Gano April 21. Though Gano requested credentials, they received no emails from TPUSA regarding their applications. Instead, they attended and covered the event as students with free student tickets. Despite their requests being denied, Savitsky said several other press members were in attendance.
“We were surprised there was press there at all since our requests weren’t acknowledged through email or through press online,” Savitsky said.
TPUSA’s website has a page for students and other attendees to register. The page states that stops on the tour are repeated opportunities to honor the late Charlie Kirk and “keep the fight alive.”
“We know he wouldn’t want us to surrender or be coerced into silence,” the page reads. “Free speech is only free if we use our voices.”
