Rolando Morales
Assistant Editor
A TPUSA Speaker Circle event will take place at Texas A&M University-San Antonio from 2:45 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 25 in the Patriot’s Casa Ceremony Room. The event is hosted by Jabari Armotrading, vice president of Turning Point at A&M-San Antonio. This is the first time the Speaker Circle event will be held on campus, though other public discourse events have previously taken place
Turning Point San Antonio was founded in 2012, but the organization was not established at Texas A&M University-San Antonio until Spring 2025. The chapter was inactive at that time and was reestablished in Fall 2025.
Armotrading said his goal with Turning Point is to persuade and teach young people to be conservative.
“Through our meetings, through our conversation on campus, asking them questions, we kind of just draw out knowledge of people, just kind of question them,” said Armotrading. “Make them critically think, and then they can give them knowledge, and then they have the same knowledge that we have, kind of see what their response would be and how, like, for example, on policy issues, not knowing knowledge about this.”
Armotrading and Tristan Bentley, the chapter’s president at A&M-San Antonio, also aim to cultivate conversations and debate. They hope to invite students from all around campus to come talk about different topics.
“It’s basically the fulfillment of one of our core objectives, which is to educate and persuade and hopefully inspire young students to be conservatives,” said Armotrading. “So, kind of educating them on conservative values. That’s what we want to do. That’s one of our core objectives.
Armotrading said he believes that one of the biggest flaws in society is an emphasis onfast-paced rhetoric over facts, and prefers more cultivated, in-depth research. He describes modern learning as “microwave-type of knowledge,” preferring more researched discussion.
Armotrading hopes students leave the event with a different perspective on Turning Point USA and see the value of public discourse.
Turning Point USA was founded by Charlie Kirk, who had a belief that this generation is very lonely and depressed, hedonistic and misinformed, with many young people receiving a flawed or incomplete education.
Kirk also believed this generation could be reengaged and uphold the pillar of American values through discussion and engagement. “Come, let’s reason together and reason with each other,” he has said.
Armotrading said he agrees and believes this generation can change and continue on Kirk’s mission. “We want this to be a tradition and for it to be established for years to come,” he said.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated Feb. 19 at 12:14 p.m. to include a cutline for photo.
