By Mackenzie Grizzard | Assistant News Editor
Turning Point USA announced that it will only allow Baylor students to attend Wednesday night’s event in Waco Hall.
TPUSA sent out an email in the late afternoon that attendance for the “This is The Turning Point” tour, scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., would be limited to Baylor students only after originally being marketed for the broader community.
“We made every effort to open this event to the broader Waco community, but unfortunately, the administration has denied our attempts to do so,” the email reads. “We reserved Waco Hall, a venue large enough to be able to accommodate the broader community, because we know how important Baylor University is to Waco, and we strongly believe this is the wrong decision by school administrators.”
A statement from Vice President for Student Life Dr. Sharra Hynes emphasized the original agreement set between Baylor and TPUSA.
“The University was very clear with event organizers from the beginning that the event would be for students, faculty and staff only, with the addition of 125 invited guests from the organizing group(s),” the statement reads.
The original ticket request website included a location for general attendees on a waitlist basis, but according to Hynes’ statement, it was not previously approved by the university.
In the email, TPUSA said “over 1/20th” of the Baylor student body reserved tickets for the event, with an additional 4,500 reserved by the broader community. Waco Hall has a seating capacity of 2,200 people, per Baylor’s website.
Recent stops on the tour include George Washington University, Ohio State University and the University of Georgia, which made national headlines after CEO Erika Kirk canceled her appearance due to security concerns.
Additionally, TPUSA’s stop in Georgia took place in Akins Ford Arena, which has a capacity of 8,500. According to Baptist News Global, only around 1,000 were in attendance.
According to The Lantern, Ohio’s student publication, only about 850 students gathered for Ohio State’s leg of the tour at a venue that accommodates up to 1,700.
Earlier today, TPUSA denied all press passes to the event, citing it was a “closed event.” The Lariat, KWTX, the Waco Bridge and The Waco Tribune-Herald were among outlets denied passes.
A university spokesperson told The Lariat that the event is exclusively a TPUSA event, not a Baylor one. Additionally, all denied media passes were decided by TPUSA members, not the university.
“Baylor University had absolutely no role in that process,” they said over email.
