“It’s really a community within itself, a family,” Nick Suttle, the chapter’s vice president, said.

This family rapidly grew after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the group’s longstanding CEO and founder.

Kirk served as a role model to many, as expressed by freshman and new member Thomas Herbert.

“I would say most Gen Z, and especially Gen Z men, looked up to him,” Herbert said. “That was all the more reason that I knew I had to, and really wanted to, come in.”

Suttle saw the rapid, recent growth first-hand.

“When Charlie died … we had people flooding our inboxes on VolLink, people flooding our Instagram, people coming to us, instead of coming to them,” Suttle said.

Kirk’s memorial event proved to be a pivotal moment for the chapter. Over 900 students, locals and children visited the Alumni Memorial Building to grieve Kirk on Sept. 17.

Chapter President Emma Arns explained that the club’s growth in membership demonstrates that students aren’t giving up.

“Now that Charlie has passed, I think there is a fire lit inside of all of us,” Arns said. “My fire has been burning bright, but it’s burning brighter now.”

Arns has a deep history with Turning Point. She even had a personal connection with Kirk, coming from the same hometown: Arlington Heights, Illinois.

“I started my first chapter at Charlie Kirk’s alma mater, Wheeling High School,” Arns said. “So they had never had a chapter there before, and that’s when I learned about Turning Point.”

The club’s growth was recognized at the most recent AmericaFest conference held in Phoenix, Arizona, an annual event with scheduled speakers and breakout sessions for Turning Point students.

Every year for the past three years, the organization recognizes a high school and college as chapters of the year and names a student of the year.

This year, the spotlight shone on UT’s chapter.

“We were awarded the Legacy Chapter of the Year,” Arns said. “It was absolutely surreal.”

Over 15,000 people attended the award ceremony and thousands more watched the live stream.

“We were given the award because we made sure to reach out to as many students as we could on campus and maintain that momentum from Charlie’s passing,” Arns said.

“We’re here, we’re ready to go. We’re energized,” Suttle said.

This energy has carried on to the new members. Thomas Herbert explains the club’s passion.

“When I came into Turning Point, it was awesome,” Herbert said. “It was almost like a social club, and we were all fighting for the same cause.”

Some of the responsibility for finding new members, like Herbert, falls on the chapter’s secretary, Caroline Johnson. She focuses on inclusivity and fostering a welcoming environment when bringing students into the chapter.

“One of the main foundations of Turning Point is free speech,” Johnson said. “So being able to invite everyone into that space where you can talk about anything … and just converse with anyone.”

The organization encourages civil discourse.

“Sure, we do have more conservative leaning values, but, again, we’re bipartisan and want to open the conversation to any opinion or any belief,” Johnson said.

To invite that culture, Turning Point partnered with the state of Tennessee to launch a chapter in every Tennessee public high school.

“Any public high school and public college cannot deny students the right to come together under a Turning Point USA or a Club America chapter … ” Arns said. “To have the government backing you … is a really important thing.”

Members believe that the club wants to hear all sides and opinions of students on campus.

“We love learning what people are interested in, what their political interests are,” Arns said. “We actually have real opportunities in the political realm that we would love to connect people with”

Johnson disavowed the idea that Turning Point is exclusively for a particular political party.

“I would say we want to include as many people as possible,” Johnson said. “I think that just makes us stronger.”