By Sydney Byerly
The Indiana Citizen
March 12, 2026
Gov. Mike Braun on Thursday announced a partnership with Turning Point USA aimed at expanding conservative student political clubs in high schools and colleges across Indiana, telling reporters the state will support efforts to establish Club America chapters in every school district and defend students’ right to organize.
“You’re going to be able to exercise freedom of speech to organize,” Braun said. “Indiana is not going to be in the way of your doing it at the high school or college level.”
At an event at the governor’s residence, Braun issued a proclamation touting free speech and calling on “all schools and universities in Indiana to take all necessary steps to facilitate student organizations — such as Turning Point USA — that foster the values of liberty and freedom of speech in their students and institutions.”
Braun said Indiana is “proud” to be the eighth state to partner with the organization co-founded by the late conservative activist and commentator Charlie Kirk.
“I’m disappointed we weren’t first,” he said.
The initiative comes two days after Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales, a Republican, announced his office would partner with Turning Point USA’s Club America program to host voter registration drives and recruit poll workers at high schools.
Democrats were sharply critical of the moves to align the state’s government with the influential conservative organization. State Senate Minority Leader Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, said in a statement the governor is “trying to sell special treatment as neutrality and political favoritism as free speech.”
“This was not an announcement about civic education, and it was certainly not an announcement about keeping politics out of our schools,” Yoder said. “This was the governor of Indiana using the power, platform and credibility of the state to elevate one national political organization above all others. That should alarm every Hoosier, regardless of party.”
Braun’s announcement also comes as school board elections in Indiana are becoming more openly political. Under a new state law passed last year, school board candidates must now indicate whether they are affiliated with a political party, identify as independent, or decline to list a party affiliation on the ballot.
Supporters say the change gives voters more information about candidates, while critics warn it could deepen partisan divisions in local education governance.
Braun suggested the state’s partnership with Turning Point USA could play a role in that evolving landscape, urging school board members and candidates not to hinder efforts to establish chapters in their districts.
“I hope school board candidates share this view and get it done,” Braun said. “We’d love to see Club America in every school district in Indiana.”
Turning Point USA leaders at the event said the initiative is intended to ensure students who want to organize conservative political groups are able to do so without interference from school administrators.
Turning Point USA was founded in 2012 by Kirk, who launched the organization shortly after graduating from high school and built it into one of the country’s most influential conservative youth movements. Kirk was shot and killed at an event on a college campus in Utah last year.
Speakers at Thursday’s event repeatedly invoked Kirk’s legacy, and Turning Point leaders said the organization has seen renewed interest from students seeking to start chapters since his death.
“He ignited something that the devil cannot stop,” said Josh Thifault, a senior director with Turning Point USA. “We’re seeing a renaissance among young people who want to defend the values that built this country.”
Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, who also attended Thursday’s announcement, framed the initiative as part of a broader effort to reinforce American values among students.
“We as a state want to see pro-American clubs like Club America in every school possible in our entire state,” Beckwith said. “This is not a Republican-Democrat thing. This is a pro-American thing.”
“I think the next generation is losing the vision of what makes America who we are,” he added. “But because of organizations like Turning Point USA, that vision is coming back.”
Braun rejected suggestions that the state’s partnership with Turning Point USA favors one political viewpoint.
“We’re not providing favoritism to anyone,” Braun said. “Everybody has a voice.”
Democrats strongly rejected the characterization of the initiative as nonpartisan.
“Turning Point is not a neutral civics organization. It is a political operation with a defined ideological mission. Its affiliated faith arm says it exists to serve the American Church and advance a religious vision in public life,” Yoder said.
“That is its right as a private organization. What is not right is for the governor of Indiana to use public office to help embed that operation deeper into public schools and public institutions,” she said. “And at some point, Hoosiers have every right to ask: Whatever happened to the separation of church and state?”
The partnership aligns with Beckwith’s broader push to challenge what he calls “woke ideology” in schools.
Last year, Beckwith created an “anti-woke advisory committee” made up of conservative activists, educators and policy advocates tasked with identifying policies and programs they believe promote progressive ideology in schools and state government.
Reporting by The Indiana Citizen previously found that participants in a private strategy meeting involving Beckwith and his allies discussed expanding conservative influence in schools through student organizations like Club America and organizing students to challenge what they described as “woke ideology” in education.
Alex Clark, a Floyd County native and Turning Point contributor who spoke at Thursday’s event, said the partnership would help ensure students are not punished for expressing conservative viewpoints.
“Free speech isn’t dangerous to democracy,” Clark said. “Silencing conservative students is.”
Clark said school administrators should not restrict students’ First Amendment rights because of their political views.
When asked for specific examples of schools preventing students from forming Club America chapters or discriminating against conservative viewpoints, Braun did not cite any incidents but said such behavior would not be allowed.
“No bigotry and no discrimination is going to be tolerated on my watch,” Braun said.
Sydney Byerly is a political reporter who grew up in New Albany, Indiana. Before joining The Citizen, Sydney reported news for TheStatehouseFile.com and most recently managed and edited The Corydon Democrat & Clarion News in southern Indiana. She earned her bachelor’s in journalism at Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism (‘Sco Griz!).
The Indiana Citizen is a nonpartisan, nonprofit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed and engaged Hoosier citizens. We are operated by the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity. For questions about the story, contact Marilyn Odendahl at marilyn.odendahl@indianacitizen.org.
