On Tuesday evening, political activists Riley Gaines and Josh Thifault joined U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn on campus in a conversation centered around conservative values.

In coordination with UTK’s chapter of Turning Point USA, Blackburn spoke to over 100 members of the UT community in the Student Union ballroom.

Blackburn, who is campaigning for her 2026 gubernatorial run, encouraged students at the event to register to vote.

“In this country, ‘one person, one vote,’ is vitally important,” Blackburn said. “One of our precious rights is that right to go cast that vote and participate in the electoral system.”

Gaines and Thifault have been heavily involved with Turning Point throughout their careers.

Thifault, a founding member of Turning Point USA, touched on the importance of Blackburn speaking to the “future leaders of the country.”

“That’s one of the things that made America great – colleges were the forum for this kind of open debate,” Thifault told The Daily Beacon. “It’s easy to talk about the corruption in both parties, the one way that you fix it is you set up situations like this where the representatives actually face-to-face dialogue with the people that they represent.”

Blackburn, who has been criticized by some constituents for not holding public, in-person town halls, used the event as an opportunity to answer questions facing young voters.

“I do think that it’s important for politicians to get involved with their constituents because that’;s who they serve,” UTK’s Turning Point Chapter President Emma Arns said. “We definitely want to see more of that and plan to have more of that in the chapter.”