The leader of the Kent State chapter of the conservative students’ group Turning Point USA filed a public resignation and announced the dissolution of her chapter of the organization in response to what she believed to be Turning Point USA’s insufficient response to the public ridicule her group’s members faced after conservatives at her university were photographed at an anti-safe-space protest wearing diapers.
In a letter addressed to Turning Point USA field director Frankie O’Laughlin and regional manager Alana Mastrangelo on Monday, Kent State’s Turning Point USA chapter president and campus coordinator Kaitlin Bennett detailed what she believed to be the organization’s abandonment of her chapter as members faced public ridicule after photos of protesters wearing diapers to protest “safe spaces” circulated online. Bennett claimed that Turning Point USA knew that the diaper-clad protesters belonged to another conservative group and not to Turning Point USA, but still let the members of the group’s Kent State chapter “face the consequences of online harassment.” From the open letter on Liberty Hangout (emphasis added):
I was embarrassed to have been left alone to deal with the aftermath of the safe space event, and even lied about by Turning Point national. You two approved the event but took zero responsibility to save face for yourselves. Not only did I invite you to attend our entire free speech week, but you even told me you would help me apply for a grant for the event. I was also made aware by other Turning Point chapters under your watch that you were fully aware that Young Americans for Liberty members were the ones who dressed up as children, and that instead of putting the blame where it belonged, you not only distanced yourself from the event, but you let my chapter face the consequences of online harassment. I am appalled that national headquarters lied about, and put one of their own chapters under the bus just so they wouldn’t upset another organization.
Another section of the letter blasted Turning Point USA leaders such as Charlie Kirk for being “egotistic enough to put their face on stupid memes”:
I have realized how much of a shithole organization Turning Point USA is, and am glad I got out of this bullshit before I invested my whole life into it, let alone just my senior year of college. Now that I have a clear conscience and have no desire to continue my employment with Turning Point, I will have the time to find a real job, something I recommend for you. Maybe answering to business professionals rather than college dropouts, egotistic enough to put their face on stupid memes, will give you the leadership skills you desperately need for your positions.
But a tweet sent from the Kent State Turning Point USA account said it all:
