By Betsy Carreño & Bianca Dinkha
The possibility of a Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter has been put on pause after mass hostility, backlash, and an anonymous online threat.
The River Forest Police Department (RFPD) has since been called to investigate the threat on Fizz, an anonymous social media app for college students.
The FBI is now involved in the investigation. TPUSA is a conservative, non-profit organization that was founded by Charlie Kirk in 2012.
He was murdered on Sep. 10, heightening the popularity of the organization that has been found controversial due to its founder and his opposition to immigration, abortion, LGBTQ rights, DEI, and gun control.
Senior Matthew Earley initially hoped to create a TPUSA chapter at Dominican. An Instagram account was made for the potential chapter. The account has since added “Not affiliated with Dominican University,” in their bio, while keeping their profile picture and Instagram handle associated with DU.
Since Oct. 16, the group has received hostile backlash on Fizz for attempting to start a chapter at DU. Earley has since expressed that this hostility has contributed to the group’s decision to not pursue a TPUSA chapter on campus.
Earley says, “First and foremost protect the safety and mental well-being of all of those involved either directly or indirectly with the club.”
“A lot of individuals who have conservative beliefs feel extremely uncomfortable sharing their beliefs on this campus given the backlash and threatful comments that I and others have been receiving,” Earley said.
Additionally, Earley and several other organizers are graduating seniors who wouldn’t be around to develop the group. Earley has since expressed that he, “[does] not see a long- term future for the club after those involved graduate.”
After about a week of online hostility and backlash, on Oct. 22, a serious threat surfaced and a formal police report was made. The Dominican Star obtained the police report through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
The threat being investigated made a direct reference to Charlie Kirk, who was murdered in September.
According to the police report, the threat read, “To whoever is involved with (Turning Point USA). You’re gonna be the next Charlie Kirk.”
On the same day the threat was made, three RFPD officers were dispatched to Dominican.
They met with Sarah Johnson, the Director of Campus Safety, Sasha Santiago, and three Dominican University students whose name were redacted, according to the police report.
The students said they that they didn’t know who made the post, or who the Dominican student moderating the Fizz account could be.
The police report also said that one of the students told the officers “there have not been any verbal threats or threats of physical harm made directly toward them.”RFPD forwarded the threat to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Illinois Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence Center two days later. The students involved in the case were told to directly contact the FBI with any new developments.
Earley declined to comment on any specifics regarding the threat and the ongoing investigation.
“In regards to the threat, I don’t have any further comments on it besides the local police and other authorities have been informed and are actively involved in this case,” Earley said.
On Oct. 30, Dominican students received an email from the Dean of Students, Sarah
Johnson, where she states, “We want to be clear: threats of any kind, whether made publicly, privately, or anonymously, are never acceptable and have no place in our community…If identified, the student will face consequences under Dominican’s Student Code of Conduct and may be subject to legal action.”
Gabe Lara, vice president of student success and engagement, explained that Dominican is working on the ongoing investigation with RFPD. While the university works within their own jurisdiction, using the code of conduct, once a case rises to anything that would be considered criminal activity, it’s passed on to the authorities. At that level, Dominican is not involved in leading the efforts but is involved in working alongside local law enforcement.
As for the general consequences within Dominican, Lara shares that, “the results of that could lead from as minimal as a warning to as high as a suspension.”
Additionally, Johnson says, “I think as [a] reminder, that the Dominican code of conduct process is limited before knowing the names of students involved. So, the Dominican code of conduct process starts with a student who receives a letter from the Student Conduct Office, kind of explaining what allegations that there were. And that starts by going to an individual student.”
Johnson also emphasized that Fizz is not controlled or endorsed by Dominican. As a third-party company, Dominican is unable to monitor the posts being made by students anonymously. To create an account, a student email is required, meaning that staff and faculty cannot join the app.
President Glena Temple says, “[We want to be] in a dialogue with students, of course what we want to do is have our students think critically about issues and also respect human dignity and be a place where we have ongoing dialogue as a campus.”
“I love the student advocacy, and I definitely want to see that,” said Lara. “But I also want us to be kind to each other. And I get some frustrations that students may have, whatever youbelieve in, in that regard but how do we move forward in our discourse and share the frustrations, share the efficacy, we definitely want to hear it as an administration…What are some things that we can do differently to educate our campus, and our community.”
As explained by Johnson, “I really would encourage students, if they see something that feels alarming to them, to share it with me. And I also would encourage students to remember that the standards of the Dominican Code of Conduct do apply in spaces like social media. And so, I would ask students to make sure that they feel that their actions are reflective of the type of student that they are in person as well.”
- When asking students what they think about Fizz, Mara Guerrero explained, “I think how people are acting out is dangerous. I think it’s even more dangerous now that they’re trying to come into Dominican. And people are scared, and they’re just scared to be at Dominican, which is kind of, like, hurtful, especially with everything that’s going on.”
Andrea Belmares, another student, had a similar thought, “I don’t think threats should have been made, but I kind of do understand why students were upset because we are a Hispanic Serving Institution, and I as a Hispanic feel uncomfortable knowing maybe some people at school have hatred toward us. But I don’t think they should have threatened people, but I do understand why some people feel unsafe like the guy said he feels unsafe.”
The possibility of getting rid of Fizz also did not seem like an option to Guerrero, “I think, unfortunately, like, in our generation, we have dealt with these anonymous apps forever… We’ve been through it. I think, unfortunately, these apps will never go away. People will always be using them.”
Temple, however, encourages students to be kind to one another, “We’re grounded by our mission. In our exploration of truth, but also in the situation where we respond to one another with respect and with dignity. So, I think our behaviors are guided by our mission as a private Catholic, Dominican Institution and we want to be a place where there is dialogue and where students are asked to explore truth.”
Despite the efforts to open the chapter, resulting in backlash and threats, student Dolores
Vasquez says, “I think everyone has the right to voice their own opinions, but if you do have the courage to do that you should understand that some people aren’t going to agree with that.”
The Dominican Star will continue to follow this story. For any updates, visit our social media or website at dominicanstar.com
Michael Del Genio contributed to this report.
bcarreno@my.dom.edu
bdinkha@my.dom.edu
mdelgenio@my.dom.edu
“I don’t think threats should have been made, but…” I’m going to stop you right there. Justifying threats is the exact reason why conservatives are afraid to speak out and why Charlie Kirk was assassinated in the first place. For all the talk of illegal immigrants (Dominican students included) feeling unsafe, actual threats of someone losing their life for speaking their mind are being leveled at conservative students to the point where they can’t even form a single right-leaning club against a multitude of leftist ones.
Shame on Dominican for creating this environment, and shame on anyone for justifying any of this.
Dominican should remove “liberal” from its description of “liberal arts school” because it most certainly is not.
Not surprised, students are forced to follow what Dominican University says, if you disagree with them, they threat you. People aren’t allowed to speak their minds anymore.
And also, the school has “hispanic” students, but do they know if they are liberal, libertarian or conservative? No, they don’t. They just automatically assume they are liberal and make decisions for them.
That’s Dominican.