CSU’s Turning Point USA chapter hosts political discussion following Charlie Kirk event

Danny Sonnenberg

February 7, 2018

Colorado State University students of different backgrounds and political ideology got the chance to discuss politics at Turning Point USA’s “Coffee and Conversation” event Tuesday afternoon.

students sit in a circle, listening to each other talk — A group shares their thoughts at Coffee and Conversation, a discussion facilitated by CSU’s chapter of Turning Point USA. The discussion invited students from varying political ideologies to share their thoughts and debreif after the events on Feb. 3. (Ashley Potts | Collegian)

For 45 minutes, students had the opportunity to listen to and hear others’ viewpoints and discuss their points of agreement and disagreement regarding the events that occurred after Charlie Kirk spoke at the Lory Student Center Friday night.

“It’s a shame the protests turned violent Friday night and hopefully this conversation event will provide the opportunity for peaceful dialogue,” said Carter Fortuin, a member of TPUSA.

Isabel Brown, CSU’s chapter president of TPUSA which hosted the conversation, said she hopes to have more discussions with students in other political parties.

“I was surprised by the high turnout for the ‘Smashing Socialism’ event Friday night, and I hope to continue the beneficial political dialogue with more events like this,” Brown said in an interview with the Collegian.

Brown plans to have TPUSA make this a regular occurrence and hopes opportunities like these will encourage people to start viewing others as individuals rather than putting them into boxes when discussing politics.

“Some of my best friends and I disagree on almost every single issue,” Brown said. “But, we still manage to support each other and uphold each other’s right to have our own beliefs.”

Brown said was also encouraged by the presence of people from different political parties.

Alexander Adams, from Young Americans of Liberty, agreed with the need for political diversity.

“I think it’s important for us to get out of our echo chambers and hear from others with differing beliefs,” Adams said.

Larson Ross, who discussed the United States healthcare system with Adams, was from the Young Democratic Socialists of America and also enjoyed the opportunity to engage in conversation about difficult topics with others.

“On Friday, our organization had the goal of opening (a) political dialogue and hopefully we can continue that today,” Ross said.

Other attendees, like Caitlin Young, said they enjoyed the gathering for different reasons.

“I enjoyed listening to what others had to say and incorporating that into how I feel, using their voice to discover my own,” Young said.

Collegian reporter Danny Sonnenberg can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @dannyjsonnenberg.

Comments (0)

When commenting on The Collegian’s website, please be respectful of others and their viewpoints. The Collegian reviews all comments and reserves the right to reject comments from the website. Comments including any of the following will not be accepted. 1. No language attacking a protected group, including slurs or other profane language directed at a person’s race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social class, age, physical or mental disability, ethnicity or nationality. 2. No factually inaccurate information, including misleading statements or incorrect data. 3. No abusive language or harassment of Collegian writers, editors or other commenters. 4. No threatening language that includes but is not limited to language inciting violence against an individual or group of people. 5. No links.

All The Rocky Mountain Collegian Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest