By Samuel Ortega
Disclaimer: Letter to the Editor does not represent the viewpoints of The Whitworthian, members of the editorial board or Whitworth University.
Though I do not agree with the views of TPUSA as an organization, I do believe that everybody should be able to share their ideas with the intent of starting a conversation and trying to come to a shared agreement. The problem with the TPUSA chapter at Whitworth University bringing speakers aligned with the TPUSA brand to campus is that the speakers are not coming to campus to do either of these things. They are coming to validate the opinions of those who share the same views and to rally for people to fight against opposing values. Whitworth is a university that is dedicated to “provide its diverse student body an education of mind and heart,” which clashes with the continued efforts of TPUSA to bring people who will criticize the university’s message and student body.
The TPUSA chapter at Whitworth makes it impossible to sympathize with the push-back that they experience because they have not shown the students at Whitworth that they want to have genuine conversations. Instead, they want to stir up discourse and stoke the fire of anger from both sides of the political spectrum. I could not care less about who TPUSA wants to bring because I am not forced to attend the guest speaker events. But I do care that their way of building community on campus is to bring political commentators who will create more campus strife.
(P.S. Being backed by a multi-million dollar organization that sends these speakers also does not help their case.)
Peace and love,
Samuel Ortega
Class of ’26