Leaders of a conservative minority movement backed by Turning Point USA will approach students at Bowie State University on Friday as the historically Black campus celebrates its homecoming.
The uninvited trip to the Prince George’s County school is the second-to-last stop on BLEXIT’s “Educate to Liberate Road Trip,” a roughly one-month, cross-country tour of HBCUs to ensure students “hear perspectives they might not encounter in the classroom,” according to BLEXIT Senior Director Pierre Wilson.
“Our events are centered around honest discussion and civic engagement,” Wilson told The Baltimore Sun in a statement. “We aim to create spaces where students can hear a variety of viewpoints, ask tough questions, and walk away better equipped to form their own opinions.”
The grounds of public colleges like Bowie State are generally open to the public and university spokesperson Kelly Alexander said Tuesday that the school had not received a “request for space” on campus from the BLEXIT tour.
“Bowie State University is a public institution open to members of the community,” she said. “All visitors must respect and follow campus policies and protocols, including refraining from activities that disrupt university operations.”
BLEXIT’s road trip started less than a month after Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated at a Utah university — and appears to follow a similar playback as the one that propelled Kirk from a student activist to a social media star to, eventually, a forceful ally of President Donald Trump’s.
The Washington Post reported that during their stop last Friday at Howard University, BLEXIT contributors asked students and alumni questions on camera. However, unlike Kirk, whose debates were often combative and advertised as such, The Post said BLEXIT focused its conversations more on financial independence than politics.
Protesters purportedly stayed close to a BLEXIT personality and videographer, and some students avoided them in what The Post called “a mild commotion.”
According to its website, BLEXIT timed Educate to Liberate for “when school spirit is at its peak … to challenge the status quo” at HBCU campuses and bring “conservative values to life,” describing it as “more than a tour; it’s a mission.”
Wilson said BLEXIT’s goal on HBCU campuses is to establish student-led clubs and provide spaces to share and, for others “who may not think they agree,” challenge conservative beliefs.
BLEXIT reports online that its Maryland chapter has 320 active members.
Bowie State officials have said added security measures were already in place for the expected influx of people during homecoming, but Wilson said for BLEXIT, pushback “is never something we fear.”
“We recognize that universities are often accustomed to one-sided conversations, so when we visit campuses, we approach them with respect and openness …. If anything, it’s often faculty and staff, not students, who show the most resistance to our presence on campus,” he said. “Students, on the other hand, are typically curious, open-minded, and eager to engage in these conversations.”
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