Action Announcement: Penn State students and people of State College, show Penn State Administration that you oppose racism, transphobia, and xenophobia by gathering in a student-led protest against racist transphobe Charlie Kirk on September 19^th at 11:30am at the South HUB Lawn. At this moment, it is critical that we stand with marginalized communities against the threat of the neofascist movement and its agents such as Charlie Kirk.

For updates, follow @scds_sc on Instagram. For questions or to get involved in the struggle against racism, transphobia, and xenophobia, DM us on Instagram or email scdsstatecollege@protonmail.com.

The Student Committee for Defense and Solidarity (SCDS), People's Defense Front (PDF), students of Pennsylvania State University (PSU), and members of the larger State College community are against the Turning Point USA (TPUSA) event on September 19^th. This event will platform Charlie Kirk, a far-right extremist known for hate speech against people of color, immigrants, and members of the LGBTQ+ community, among others. Kirk and TPUSA have actively led anti-LGBTQ+, anti-Black, anti-vax campaigns. TPUSA manipulates the rhetoric of “free speech” and “debate” in order to provide ideological and institutional cover for building neofascist movement infrastructure with university resources. "Free speech" does not mean platforming far-right extremists and promoting hateful, meritless disinformation.

The University Administration of Penn State is fully empowered to deny Turning Point USA permission to host this event. The Administration absolutely can stop this event. We, the students and community of State College, as well as people of conscience from around the country, demand the following:

1. We demand that the Penn State Administration deny Turning Point USA permission to platform Charlie Kirk with a tabling event on September 19^th, 2024.

2. We demand that substantial policy changes be made to relevant university policies in order to prevent far-right extremist organizers like Kirk from coming to our campus to be platformed in public spaces.

3. We demand that the Administration dissolve Turning Point USA as a registered campus organization for violating our university's fundamental values and platforming a far-right extremist demagogue like Kirk.

Kirk’s rhetoric targets the identity categories of some of PSU’s most vulnerable students. By inviting Charlie Kirk to our campus, the PSU chapter of TPUSA has demonstrated a commitment to spread hatred and disinformation that directly implicates students who attend and pay tuition to this university. It is imperative that we fight back through organizing against these forces. Kirk, and this group, also pose a direct danger to the faculty and staff who work at PSU. For example, their “Progressive Professor Watch List” encourages TPUSA members to doxx faculty members who oppose Kirk’s imperialist, racist, and violent rhetoric.

While this is dangerous to our community, the PSU Administration has provided cover for charlatans like Kirk to spread their hatred on campus.

We will NOT stand for this!

We are stronger together. Let us Penn Staters and friends join together and oppose fascism, chauvinism, and white supremacy in deeds, not only in words.

Dare to struggle, dare to win!