ASWU to vote on new Turning Point USA chapter affiliation
- Aubrey Lee, Staff Writer
- 12 minutes ago
- 3 min read
In their upcoming Nov. 20 meeting, the Associated Students of Willamette University (ASWU) senate will vote on whether or not to affiliate a Willamette chapter of Turning Point USA (TPUSA). Two prior discussions resulted in the senate not reaching a consensus.
At their previous Oct. 23 meeting, the ASWU senate vote on whether to affiliate the club did not pass due to lack of quorum. Too many senators chose to abstain from the vote, with one voting “yes” on the motion to affiliate, seven voting “no” and seven abstaining.
At the later Nov. 13 senate meeting, the possibility of TPUSA becoming ASWU-affiliated was again on the agenda for discussion. Following about 15 minutes of public comment, largely in opposition to TPUSA becoming affiliated, the ASWU senate voted to table the motion.
Initially, the senate’s vote on the resolution to table the issue resulted in a 7-7 tie. Typically, the ASWU vice president would make the tiebreaking vote. However, as Vice President Jay Chew (ʼ26) was not present at the meeting, Hannah Moses (’28), acting as the stand-in vice president pro tempore, made the tiebreaking vote in favor of tabling the motion until the next ASWU senate meeting.
As described on the Willamette website, when a club seeks ASWU affiliation, its application and paperwork are first reviewed by the Club Approval and Finance Committee, also known as the finance board. The finance board then makes a recommendation to the larger ASWU senate. After this, the senate votes whether or not to affiliate. Through affiliation, clubs are able to apply for funding and reserve university space.
In September, prospective president of the TPUSA chapter Lexi Thorsett (ʼ26) told The Collegian she would not be seeking ASWU affiliation but has since changed course.
On Oct. 21, the ASWU finance board’s five members voted four against and one abstaining on the possible motion to affiliate TPUSA. While the finance board recommendation has “no binding” on the larger senate vote, as stated in an interview by ASWU Treasurer Mitch Septoff (’26), who heads the finance board as a nonvoting member, the concerns raised could reflect concerns within the larger senate.
According to Septoff, the finance board discussed the possibility of TPUSA “inherently making the campus an unsafe place for people with marginalized identities.” He later clarified that “nothing I say here should be taken as directly representative of ASWU” as Septoff “can only speak for [his] personal perspective” on the meetings of the finance board.
In an interview prior to the Nov. 13 meeting, ASWU Senator Erica Stotts (’28) cited similar “safety concerns,” as the reason she abstained from the Oct. 23 vote. Though she said she would be “totally okay” with a “general conservatives group on campus,” she is worried about the implications of ASWU affiliating with the local TPUSA chapter because of its connection to the national TPUSA organization. Stotts was mainly concerned with both the safety of students on the Willamette campus as well as the “professor watchlist” that is connected to the national TPUSA organization.
The Thursday, Nov. 20 ASWU senate meeting will take place in the Montag Den from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.