Jeff Charis-Carlson

jcharisc@press-citizen.com

A group of conservative students is challenging a recent decision by the Drake University Student Senate to deny its request to be recognized as an student organization.

Drake officials said they are not aware of the senate denying any other would-be organizations this academic year.

Sophomore Amy Samuel said Tuesday that she was surprised when the senate voted down a motion to recognize the Turning Point USA chapter that she has been helping to organize on campus.

“The way some members of the senate have promoted their political views has made me a little concerned about what the future could be for the approval of our organization,” she said.

Samuel said she and the regional director for Turning Point have a meeting scheduled next week with university officials to learn the specific reasons why their application was denied.

Turning Point USA is a national nonprofit organization founded in 2012 to educate and organize students to promote the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets and limited government, according to the group’s website.

Minutes from the April 21 meeting of Drake's student senate show that senators were split concerning the approval of the new organization.

Several of the senators — even those who said they disagreed politically the messages offered by the Turning Point students — said they were in favor or recognizing the group as a way to give voice to conservative students on campus. They saw an ideological distinction between the nonpartisan Turning Point and groups like the Drake College Republicans.

Other senators described the Turning Point students as having “a hateful record,” “aggressive marketing” and “an unethical privacy concern.”

"The Student Senate uses all available information when voting, including official social media accounts from national organizations, as well as reports from other institutions," Kevin Maisto, Drake student body president, said in an emailed statement. "The motion was denied 15-3 with one abstention at the open meeting on Thursday, April 21."

Samuel said she worries that the senators who voted down the application did so based on their personal politics rather than on any specific requirements for student organization.

Jerry Parker, Drake’s associate dean of students, said members of Turning Point USA will need to go through the approval process again. He noted that the senate membership soon will turn over as the 2015-16 academic year comes to a close.

During the past academic year, the senate approved 26 new student organization and tabled an application from a film organization pending some copyright questions, Parker said. That number does not include six ad hoc collegiate political candidate organizations — four Republican and two Democratic — that did not require senate approval.

“I’m a firm believer that the university should provide the same opportunities to all organizations,” said Rachel Paine Caufield, a professor of political science at Drake who serves as the adviser to the Turning Point USA group and to many other political student groups on campus.

Caufield, who has been at Drake for 15 years, says she can recall only one other political student organization being denied by the senate, but she couldn’t recall the details.

“I’m hopeful we will be able to meet with the students and talk about what course of action they want to take next,” Caufield said.