Christian Meza
Managing Editor
The Turning Point USA chapter at Texas A&M University-San Antonio has quickly grown within the last couple of months of the fall 2025 semester. As they welcome and offer open political conversation for students to collaborate as well as express their views and opinions.
Communications major Alanna Stewart, the chapter’s president at A&M-San Antonio, said she first became interested with Turning Point USA after attending a Young Women’s Leadership Summit featuring speakers like Candace Owens. “That event specifically was a lot less political-based and more focused on health and wellness,” Stewart said. “It really sparked my interest.”
TPUSA unofficially began its tenure as an interest group on campus in the fall semester. Membership for TPUSA has grown with recent national news of the shooting of its co-founder Charlie Kirk.
Stewart described this event as a tragic, “wake up call.”
“It really motivates us to carry on the mission and make sure we have a strong foundation,” Stewart said. “There is safety in numbers, and it’s important for people to feel they can speak freely.”
“We know conservatives are the majority,” Stewart said. “We won the popular vote, and yet there still is this feeling that you can’t speak like this, or you can’t do this because your professors and classmates are going to target you.”
The chapter’s student officers also include Vice President Tristan Bentley, Secretary Caroline Payne and Social Media Assistant Makayla Breiten. TPUSA A&M-San Antonio has grown to 49 students.
Stewart said that the chapter emphasizes free speech and that the interest group is open to students of all backgrounds. “Literally everybody is welcome,” Stewart said. “Our main mission is to educate young people to be informed voters and to create a safe platform for discussion,” Stewart said.
“If you disagree, that’s okay, but you should know the other side. We’re promoting freedom of speech and encouraging students to engage with different beliefs,” Stewart said.
TPUSA’s A&M-San Antonio chapter collaborates with other local TPUSA campus chapters, including Northwest Vista, San Antonio College and the University of Texas at San Antonio.
A&M-San Antonio’s TPUSA chapter is active through their Instagram social media account. @tpusa_tamusa is used to keep members and other interested individuals informed, and they are also able to be found on their JagSync page.
Stewart said they try to keep their social media posts or any interest group announcements purposely vague to avoid attracting any potential harm. “We anticipate people not being thrilled when we’re tabling,” Stewart said.
Dan Braaten, president of A&M-San Antonio’s AAUP chapter, said student political interest groups play an important role on campus. “I’m a supporter of all student groups… they can have a positive impact in getting students engaged in political issues,” Braaten said.
However, student political activity doesn’t always bode well and can potentially at times create division and tension amongst students, faculty and staff.
The Professor Watch List was created by nonprofit organization with their mission being, “to expose and document college professors who discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom.”
Bratten said the Professor Watch List, “can lead to a chilling effect.”
“Even if a professor isn’t subject to formal punishment, they might avoid public speaking or controversial topics to avoid backlash,” Braaten said. Braaten said that universities should be a supportive resource and follow any appropriate procedures for any faculty feeling targeted.
Stewart said she’d “probably” be open to taking a class from a professor on the watch list. She has taken politically focused classes before where there are opinions she didn’t completely align with, but she still values these classes to learn from different political perspectives.
“Are there things that I aligned with? No, but I feel like it’s really important for us to learn things from both sides,” Stewart said.
This story was updated on Nov. 25, 2025, to add a photo credit.
