Several students spoke out against the approval of a Turning Point USA chapter at the Associated Student Government meeting Friday.

“This is a direct threat to our student democracy,” said student Luca Ferrel, referring to the possible approval of the club.

Turning Point USA is a nonprofit conservative organization that aims to educate students on “the importance of fiscal responsibility, free markets and limited government,” according to its website. 

During the prolonged public comment, several students cited incidents of racism and discrimination perpetrated by former leaders of the group and the organization’s founder Charlie Kirk. 

The club was on the agenda to be considered for approval but was tabled after Student Trustee Kenny Igbechi said there was not enough information available to have a substantial discussion. 

The senate moved to revisit the approval of club charters at its next meeting. 

Student Agnes Guerry spoke about how Turning Point USA targets African Americans and compared the club to Nazi Germany. 

Hitler’s ideology became popular through grassroots activists, Guerry said, with a long-term goal of taking over.

“It is not the words of our enemies, it is the silence of our friends,” Guerry said. 

The opposition to the club, however, had little effect on the meeting. After public comment was closed about half an hour into the meeting, the discussion was not revisited for the duration. 

Igbechi’s suggestion to table the approval of club charters until sufficient information was presented was met with some contention from the senate and from Student Program Advisor Amy Collins. Collins argued that the information on the agenda was sufficient as it was all they normally used, but Igbechi repeated that the senate’s rules required more.

The senate eventually agreed with Igbechi and voted to table the discussion. 

The senate’s next meeting will take place Friday, Feb. 21.