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Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a proclamation Wednesday encouraging students in every Arkansas high school and college to establish a chapter of the conservative organization founded by the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Kirk was killed by a gunman last year during an appearance at Utah Valley University. Tyler Robinson has been charged with aggravated murder in Kirk’s death.
“It encourages all our high schools and our colleges to accept students’ reasonable participation in clubs and political or religious speech, and if school administrators try to suppress students’ freedom of speech as we have seen in other states, let me assure you that conservatives have just as much of a right to speak their mind as anyone else in the country. We will stand up for you,” Sanders said.
Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow who took over as CEO of Turning Point USA, which he founded, was also on hand for the announcement. The proclamation signed by Sanders mirrors similar partnerships announced in several other GOP-led states, including Texas and Oklahoma. High schools can start Club America chapters, while colleges can have Turning Point USA chapters.
The arrival of Erika Kirk and Sanders to the Janet Huckabee Grand Hall of the Governor’s Mansion was met with prolonged applause by the standing-room-only crowd that had gathered for the announcement.
Erika Kirk appeared emotional at times, dabbing at her eyes and nose with a tissue after she gave remarks. She said the mission of the organization founded by her late husband was “way bigger than politics.” She encouraged young women not to compare themselves to others, and young men — “especially a young white male man” — to not let anyone look down on them.
“Just know that as long as you’re a part of Turning Point USA, you have us by your side, and we will be there for you every step of the way,” Erika Kirk said, “Just like this governor and many others that are out there, we’ve got your back always.”
While the proclamation doesn’t outright require schools to start chapters, it discourages them from “discriminating against free speech in violation of the Free Speech Clause and Equal Access Act, especially conservative students’ right to free speech.”
The Equal Access Act requires public schools receiving federal funding to provide equal access and opportunity for clubs started by students for political, religious, philosophical or other speech-related reasons.
Charlie Kirk’s death sparked bipartisan condemnations of political violence in a year that had already seen the assassination of a Democratic state House speaker in Minnesota, the killings of two Israeli embassy employees in D.C. and an arson attack at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence.
Conservatives — including Sanders — have since sought to discipline those who criticized Charlie Kirk following his death or his rhetoric on LGBTQ+ and racial and civil rights issues. At least two employees of public institutions and agencies in Arkansas have been fired as a result of posts they made criticizing Kirk after he died.
As governor, Sanders has championed legislation designed to prevent what she has called “indoctrination” in public schools, though those measures have been focused on areas such as the teaching of critical race theory. In her proclamation, the governor also cited higher education legislation she signed last year that included provisions that sought to prevent discrimination at campuses.
In a statement, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas expressed concern that the proclamation could pose issues to the very constitutional protections and law that Sanders cited.
“The governor’s endorsement of these student clubs only — to the exclusion of all other student clubs — is differential treatment based on the content or viewpoint of the clubs, and a problem under the First Amendment,” Holly Dickson, executive director of ACLU of Arkansas, wrote in the statement. “This overstepping also flouts students’ rights as protected by the federal Equal Access Act.”
The large crowd at Wednesday’s announcement reacted enthusiastically to the remarks from Sanders, Kirk, Turning Point USA Vice President of Field Operations Andrew Sypher and Fayetteville High School Club America chapter President Lukas Klaus. But outside, protestors opposed to the agreement gathered, chanting and yelling at people leaving the event.
Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. This article was published with permission from the Arkansas Advocate. Contact Editor Andrew DeMillo for questions: [email protected]. Follow Arkansas Advocate on Facebook and Twitter.
