Turning Point Chapter Forced Underground After California School Bans Political Clubs

A student at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, California, says the administration has barred her Turning Point USA chapter from becoming an officially recognized organization under a policy that prohibits political advocacy groups on campus.

The policy prevents the chapter from reserving meeting rooms, hosting events, or accessing university resources available to registered student organizations, as reported by Fox News.

Sadie Burnett, a third-year student at the small private Christian institution, serves as president of the unrecognized Turning Point USA chapter. She told Fox News Digital that the group had been active since 2023.

BREAKING California Vanguard “Christian University” has shut down the Turning Point USA chapter, violating the First Amendment rights of conservative students.

Why are Christian universities shutting down conservative groups??

Follow: @DallasExpress @Carlos__Turcios pic.twitter.com/dV0WzNB5wd

— Carlos Turcios (@Carlos__Turcios) December 4, 2025

“Since 2023, we’ve had a lively and very active presence on campus,” Burnett said.

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“We’ve hosted several events, we were able to rush at club rush. We had students very enthusiastic about our presence being there. It was even something that made us stand out as a Christian university, was the fact that Turning Point was practiced, and it was not only practiced, but it was also celebrated.”

Burnett said the administration informed students over the summer that Vanguard would no longer recognize political clubs.

“We received an email over the summer stating that the school was taking a new direction with student organizations,” she said.

“They’re going completely apolitical, giving this idea that Christians do not necessarily belong in politics, which is interesting because they do have a political science department, which I’m a part of.”

According to Burnett, multiple attempts to work with administrators have been unsuccessful. The chapter may meet informally outside, but may not operate as a conservative organization.

She said some students feel unsafe gathering publicly due to “anti-conservative” sentiment on campus and online.

Burnett said losing official recognition limits the group’s ability to engage with other students.

“The difference between being an unaffiliated chapter versus being a registered student organization is that chapters or organizations that are registered, they can book rooms for meetings well in advance to make sure that they have a space to speak, they have a space to host events,” she said.

“They’re allowed to receive university funding. They can rush at club rush and interact with students, interact with new-coming students that are coming in [and] prospective students.”

She added that the chapter cannot host tabling events, describing them as “one of the heart and cores to Turning Point” and noting that colleges have historically encouraged debate.

“If I wanted to go to a college or a university that was anti-conservative, but at least they let me speak, I would have absolutely chosen to go there,” she said.

She also argued, “Christians have a place in politics, and not only a place, we have a profound voice, the most profound voice in politics.”

Amanda Lebrecht, Vanguard University’s vice president for student development, said the school had already been phasing out political clubs in 2023, during the period when the Turning Point chapter was seeking recognition.

“This fall, it was established that university policy does not permit campus clubs affiliated with political advocacy initiatives,” she said.

Lebrecht described the policy as part of an effort to support “our educational mission within the context of our small Christian community.”

Lebrecht said students are encouraged to participate instead in university-led initiatives, including last year’s “Year of Civility” and this year’s “Courageous Conversations,” which recently brought pro-life advocate Lila Rose to campus.

She said students may also form academic social clubs through the history and political science departments.

Addressing concerns about student safety, Lebrecht said students have direct access to campus safety personnel and noted that the university shares property with the Costa Mesa Police Department and fire department.

Lebrecht said the university president prefers not to support political clubs of any affiliation, instead aiming to “channel their voice … in a different way, not silence them.”

Vanguard does allow “cultural and heritage clubs,” such as the Black Student Union, which has operated for more than a decade.

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