Rutgers pushes TPUSA chapter to hold elections to replace officers

The administration at Rutgers University is doubling down on its push for the school’s Turning Point USA chapter to hold elections that would replace officers who spoke out against Antifa-aligned professor Mark Bray, according to emails obtained by Fox News Digital.

In a Thursday email, Neela Patel, executive director for student centers and activities at Rutgers, directed the TPUSA chapter to hold elections to replace its treasurer, Megyn Doyle, the student who started the petition to remove Bray, as well as the vice president, who recently stepped down.

“I am following up on the email below, which I sent on October 17, 2025, about the officer follow-up for Turning Point USA–Rutgers,” Patel wrote. “As of today, I have not received a response to discuss the necessary next steps. Therefore, I am requesting that the organization proceed with holding elections to fill the Vice President and Treasurer positions, in accordance with University policies and the organization’s constitution.”

Patel added that elections must be completed by Nov. 19 and that all candidates must meet specific eligibility requirements.

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“When conducting elections, please ensure the following University requirements for student organization officers are met,” Patel added. “Officers must be full-time undergraduate students at Rutgers University — New Brunswick. Officers must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 at Rutgers University. First-semester students are not eligible to hold officer positions.”

The email follows earlier correspondence obtained by Fox News Digital from Karima Woodyard, Rutgers’ director for student involvement and leadership, who told the TPUSA chapter that both Doyle and Ava Kwan, the chapter’s outreach coordinator, should be removed from their positions.

Woodyard argued that neither student was eligible to serve in executive roles because Doyle is enrolled at the Rutgers Newark campus and Kwan is a graduate student.

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Woodyard maintained that since the TPUSA chapter is “classified as an undergraduate student organization for the New Brunswick campus, both individuals are ineligible to hold executive board positions within your group.”

Earlier this month, members of Rutgers’ Turning Point USA chapter launched a petition, spearheaded by Doyle, to remove Bray, the assistant teaching professor, citing concerns over his past statements supporting Antifa.

Bray, who recently moved abroad “for safety reasons” and said that he had been doxxed and “received multiple death threats,” has expressed strong support for “antifacism” ​​in previous online posts. He is teaching his classes remotely from Spain.

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He is the author of “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook,” which openly calls for “militant anti-fascism.” That book says that “at the very least 50 percent of author proceeds will go to the International Anti-Fascist Defense Fund, which is administered by more than three hundred antifa from eighteen countries.”

On its website, the International Anti-Fascist Defense Fund says that it has “provided over $250,000 USD to more than 800 anti-fascists in 26 different countries.”

Doyle, a student at Rutgers who is the treasurer for the Turning Point USA chapter, told Fox News Digital in a statement that “Woodyard’s decision to step down as TPUSA’s advisor for the academic year is a way for her to avoid accountability. Ava and I have been trying to find answers as to why our student statuses are being affected now, since we have held these positions since the start of the school year.”

“We have reason to believe that Rutgers is choosing to enforce its policy whenever they like based on the timing of the whole situation,” she added. 

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In an email to Patel obtained by Fox News Digital, Kwan wrote, “Based on the timing of this investigation, this seems like a deliberate weaponization of procedure due to Megyn and I’s public opposition to a self-proclaimed Antifa affiliate, who is employed at our public university on the NJ taxpayers’ dime.”

She added that “Given the circumstances, we request transparency as to who ordered this investigation into our chapter, and an answer as to why it was launched. At no point during the student organization onboarding process were we informed of any issue.” 

In a statement to Fox News Digital last week, Rutgers said, “Turning Point USA is a recognized student organization on the New Brunswick campus of Rutgers University. Like all student organizations, it is expected to operate in compliance with our stated policies and procedures.

“The university identified that two individuals presenting themselves publicly as officers of the TPUSA chapter were not properly registered as officers in accordance with university procedures. Additionally, these individuals do not meet the eligibility requirements for officer positions in a New Brunswick undergraduate student organization. 

“The university is reviewing this internally and working with the chapter to address the compliance matter and ensure the organization’s continued operations on campus, consistent with our approach to all student organizations.” 

In an emailed response Friday from Patel to Kwan obtained by Fox News Digital, Patel said that there has been no investigation into the Rutgers TPUSA chapter and that the university reached out when they learned that Doyle and Kwan did not meet the eligibility requirements. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Rutgers for additional comment.