Nebraska governor launches initiative to get Turning Point USA chapters in every school

Gov. Jim Pillen on Tuesday announced a partnership for expanding Turning Point USA-affiliated student groups in Nebraska schools. TPUSA, a national conservative advocacy group founded by the late Charlie Kirk, already has more than 20 affiliated high school chapters in Nebraska — known as Club America — and 17 chapters at the college level, according to Nick Cocca, who directs the Club America program”Civic, civil engagement — that’s what Charlie’s approach was,” Pillen said, referring to Kirk. “He inspired me … I hope that these young people here today inspire all of us to take a step further, to just stand up and say, we can have good debate, we can talk, we can work through it.”Pillen did not take questions from reporters following the announcement, leaving it unclear what exact role the state government would play in the initiative. But Pillen and Attorney General Mike Hilgers said they’d like to see a TPUSA chapter in every Nebraska high school.Cocca said the partnership is necessary because of the growing interest in TPUSA.”We’re just starting to see a lot more students in the state of Nebraska wanting to get involved,” Cocca said. “We’ve seen across the country students have been stopped, whether that’s their club has been denied.”The announcement and its justification sparked confusion from some observers, including Sen. Danielle Conrad, who said that anti-discrimination protections for student groups are already guaranteed by law.” just generally more interested in kind of catering to a far-right Twitter audience than he is to addressing real issues that impact everyday Nebraska lives,” Conrad said.Conrad said Pillen has every right to use the bully pulpit to support organizations with his words, but there would be serious concerns if the state provided material support.”If there is any sort of special treatment, if there is any sort of resources devoted to this, that would really raise concerns about unlawful viewpoint discrimination,” Conrad said.A small group of protesters gathered during the announcement, holding signs and flags to voice opposition to the state’s endorsement of what they described as a far-right organization.Nancy Brt, one of the protesters, said she was concerned about the embrace of what she termed a far-right organization by state leaders.”I’m concerned about the state advertising and supporting hate speech,” she said.The Nebraska State Education Association said it supports non-curricular student organizations but said the government shouldn’t be involved.”There is a clear and important distinction between clubs that are initiated by students based on genuine interest and a statewide initiative directed by the governor’s office,” NSEA president Tim Royers said. “Decisions about student activities are best made locally by school boards, administrators, educators, parents and students — not through a statewide mandate. Public schools must remain politically neutral environments.” Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google Search.NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |