Baylor U. Sabotages Event Featuring Border Czar Tom Homan
Baylor University is accused of trying to “sabotage” tonight’s Turning Point USA event by denying ticket holders from the greater Waco community after initially approving non-student ticket holders, the organization said.
The event, hosted by students from the school’s Turning Point USA chapter, will feature border czar Tom Homan, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and conservative podcast host Benny Johnson, as part of the organization’s “This is the Turning Point Tour.”
But despite initially approving non-student ticket holders from the broader community, Baylor University is now refusing 4,500 people to attend the event at Waco Hall, a domed auditorium on campus, Turning Point USA said.
“This event was originally designed to be open to both the student body and the local Waco community,” a TPUSA representative told Breitbart News. “In a tight-knit community like Waco, where the university is the heart of the city, it would be strange not to open it up to the community. »
The spokesperson added that the organization had booked a large room because it anticipated the entire room would be filled to capacity – only to recently learn that community members would be turned away.
“We reserved a room large enough to accommodate all of the reserved tickets, but school administrators ultimately refused them entry,” the Turning Point USA representative told Breitbart News.
“You feel terrible for all the people, 4,500 of them, who won’t be able to come, but Border Czar Homan, AG Paxton and Benny Johnson are going to give our students the attention they deserve and we’re going to put on a great event,” the TPUSA spokesperson added.
Meanwhile, Baylor has since approved planning a counter-event to protest Turning Point USA – an organization that lost its founder, Charlie Kirk, in September after he was murdered while speaking at an outdoor event at Utah Valley University.
To add insult to injury, Baylor University went so far as to “intrude” on Turning Point USA staff who were on campus in the days leading up to the event to help students hand out promotional flyers, the organization said.
Additionally, the school’s administration recently told Turning Point USA that it was not authorized to broadcast the event, the organization added.
In response to Breitbart News’ request for comment, Sharra Hynes, Baylor University’s vice president for student life, denied the claims, saying the school is allowing 125 non-students to attend the event.
“The University was very clear with the event organizers from the beginning that the event would be for students, faculty and staff only, with the addition of 125 guests from the organizing group(s),” Hynes told Breitbart News.
A letter sent by TPUSA to thousands of potential event attendees said: “Due to university-specific restrictions for this event, attendance is limited to Baylor students ONLY, and we are unable to accommodate general admission guests this evening. »
“We understand that this is disappointing and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience. We have made every effort to open this event to the broader Waco community, but unfortunately the administration has negated our attempts to do so,” the letter added.
The organization went on to note that while a significant percentage of the student body reserved tickets for Wednesday night’s event, “an incredible achievement by our chapter,” an additional 4,500 non-students also reserved tickets.
“We reserved Waco Hall, a venue large enough to accommodate the entire community, because we know how important Baylor University is to Waco, and we strongly believe this is a poor decision on the part of school administrators,” the letter states.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and @ARmastrangeloand on Instagram.
