“The American Comeback Tour,” featuring conservative activist Charlie Kirk, will visit CSUN at Matador Square on Thursday, March 6, from noon to 2 p.m. Students are invited to engage in a debate and discussion with Kirk.
Kirk, a well-known conservative political activist, founded Turning Point USA with businessman Bill Montgomery in 2012. TPUSA is a non-profit organization that advocates conservative values within universities, colleges and high schools.
According to the organization’s website, its mission is to organize and operate “exclusively for educational and charitable purposes in accordance with Section 501(c)(3), to empower informed civic and cultural engagement grounded in American exceptionalism and a positive spirit of action.”
The American Comeback Tour’s stated goal is “to debate conventional narratives promoted by leftist academia” for students at colleges and universities, with Kirk as a catalyst.
“I know a lot of things in our campus and community aren’t getting the attention that they need because nobody is really talking about it,” said Aurora Coulombe, CSUN TPUSA’s chapter president.
Kirk has gained significant traction on social media due to events like these, where viral videos of his interactions with students have sparked staunch support and outrage from all sides of the political spectrum. His confrontational style and unapologetic conservative stances have been both praised for their boldness and criticized for their divisiveness by various political commentators.
The National Association of the Deaf released a statement in January criticizing Kirk for advocating the removal of ASL interpreters during emergency briefings. The Alpha Sigma Theta sorority for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Hearing issued a call for a peaceful protest against his statements. In an Instagram post, they wrote: “He will be at CSUN with a large Deaf population (the largest population at a mainstream university in the United States), and we will be there to protest!”
“We’ve invited them to come talk with him, because that’s kind of what he’s there for,” said Coulombe, stressing the importance of people coming together to discuss complex political issues. She added that some members of CSUN’s TPUSA chapter are Deaf or Hard of Hearing themselves and disagree with Kirk’s comments.
The event is structured as a live Q&A, allowing attendees to interact with Kirk and debate in front of an audience.
TPUSA will record this event for “marketing and promotional communications.” Visit tpusa.com to reserve free tickets.
