Baylor University is being accused of attempting to “sabotage” tonight’s Turning Point USA event by denying ticket holders from the greater Waco community after initially approving non-student ticket holders, the organization says.
The event, hosted by students with the school’s Turning Point USA chapter, will feature Border Czar Tom Homan, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and conservative podcast host Benny Johnson, as part of the organization’s “This is the Turning Point Tour.”
But despite initially approving non-student ticket holders from the broader community, Baylor University is now denying 4,500 people from attending the event in Waco Hall, a dome-roofed auditorium on campus, Turning Point USA said.
“This event was originally designed to be open to both the student body and local Waco community,” a TPUSA representative told Breitbart News. “In a tight-knit community like Waco, where the university is the heartbeat of town, it would be weird not to open it up to the community.”
The spokesperson added that the organization reserved a large venue, as they anticipated the entire room would be filled to capacity — only to recently learn that community members would be denied.
“We reserved a large enough venue to accommodate all the tickets reserved only to have the school administrators ultimately deny their entry,” the Turning Point USA representative told Breitbart News.
“You feel awful for all the folks, 4,500 of them, that won’t be able to come, but Border Czar Homan, AG Paxton, and Benny Johnson are going to give our students all the attention they deserve and we’re going to put on a great event,” the TPUSA spokesperson added.
Meanwhile, Baylor has since approved a counter event planning to protest Turning Point USA — an organization that lost its founder Charlie Kirk, in September, after he was assassinated while speaking at on outdoor event at Utah Valley University.
To add insult to injury, Baylor University went as far as to “trespass” Turning Point USA staffers who were on campus in the days leading up to the event to help students distribute promotional flyers, the organization said.
Moreover, the school’s administration recently told Turning Point USA that they are not allowed to stream the event, the organization added.
In responding to Breitbart News’ request for comment, Baylor University Vice President for Student Life Sharra Hynes denied the claims, saying the school is allowing 125 non-students to attend the event.
“The University was very clear with event organizers from the beginning that the event would be for students, faculty, and staff only, with the addition of 125 invited guests from the organizing group(s),” Hynes told Breitbart News.
A letter sent from TPUSA to thousands of prospective event attendees read, “Due to university-specific restrictions for this event, attendance is limited to Baylor students ONLY, and we are unable to accommodate general admission guests this evening.”
“We understand that this is disappointing, and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience. We made every effort to open this event to the broader Waco community, but unfortunately, the administration has denied our attempts to do so,” the letter added.
The organization went on to note that while a significant percentage of the student body has reserved tickets for Wednesday night’s event, “an incredible achievement by our chapter,” an additional 4,500 non-students have also reserved tickets.
“We reserved Waco Hall, a venue large enough to be able to accommodate the broader community, because we know how important Baylor University is to Waco, and we strongly believe this is the wrong decision by school administrators,” the letter read.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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