Ashland University has granted a provisional charter to a student group that is trying to start a campus chapter of Turning Point USA (TPUSA). In November 2025, the application was approved by the Activities Budget / Chartering Committee of the Student Senate for consideration by the full Student Senate. The Student Senate denied the provisional charter. After seeking student body feedback, President Jon Parrish Peede and the AU Board of Trustees exercised their authority to approve the provisional charter.
“I commend the Student Senators for their thorough deliberations and careful efforts to balance their own positions with those of their constituents,” President Peede stated. “The Board and I made this decision in the larger context of AU’s commitment to the freedom of association and expression and to ensure that we uphold the educational value of viewpoint plurality.”
The Ashland TPUSA group must meet institutional requirements over the next year to be eligible for consideration by the Student Senate as an official student organization.
There are TPUSA chapters at more than 900 colleges and universities across the nation, including numerous public and private institutions in Ohio.
In his 2024 inauguration speech, President Peede addressed the student body on the institutional commitment to diverse perspectives: “On this campus you can hold fast to your core values and expand your viewpoint. Indeed, how can you as a young adult possibly face the challenges of the global marketplace and modern society, if you never learn how to navigate differences of opinion on fundamental matters? In my own career, I have found that when my positions have gone unchallenged, they are often weaker for it. As the Book of Proverbs states, ‘As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.’
“This perspective assumes that we are conducting ourselves with civility. Even when we are passionate about a subject—indeed, especially when we are passionate—we must remember that we are in community with one another. And a community, by definition, is grounded in tolerance. Tolerance is neither indifference nor acceptance. It is, rather, a key ingredient of mutual respect.”
Having endorsed the Chicago Statement in 2017, AU is fully committed to continuing its unwavering support of students and faculty members’ academic freedom and freedom of speech on campus.
