HELENA — Governor Greg Gianforte is encouraging high school students across Montana to start chapters of the student organization founded by the conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
In an event at the Montana State Capitol on Wednesday, Gianforte spoke before student members of Club America, the high school affiliate of Turning Point USA. He said more than 20 schools – about 12% of the high schools in the state – already have Club America chapters.
“In Montana, we have about 200 high schools,” he said. “We'd like to see a Club America chapter in every single one of them.”
Watch the video to see more from Wednesday's event:
Gianforte said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Susie Hedalen is sending letters to school districts, urging educators and administrators to support students who want to bring Club America to their schools.
One of the speakers at Wednesday’s event was Naomi Maurer, a student at Park High School in Livingston, who said she decided to start a chapter after Kirk was assassinated last September. She said the chapter has grown, but that she felt school administrators had been resistant because of the organization’s views.
“My message to students is this: Be bold enough to stand for what you believe in, even when it's uncomfortable or unpopular,” she said.
Gianforte also met Wednesday with Erika Kirk, the Turning Point CEO and wife of Charlie Kirk, who was in Montana meeting with Club America students.
Turning Point USA initially focused on activism on college campuses, but it expanded to high schools several years ago. Andrew Sypher, vice president of field operations for Turning Point, told MTN they rebranded their high school programs as Club America in 2024. He said Club America is centered on “American values,” but that it’s more focused on leadership and civic engagement when compared to other Turning Point initiatives.
“What we see is there's a lot of people at that age that are eager to express their beliefs, the things that they're raised with in their home, but they don't know how to exercise those beliefs, they don't know how to influence their peers, they don't know how to speak up and in an effective manner,” said Sypher.
Sypher said he had seen resistance to Club America chapters from “educators that lean a certain way.” He said federal law requires that schools don’t treat student clubs differently based on their beliefs.
“Today symbolizes that: It's educating all educators, all administrative faculty, that these students have a constitutional right to be able to start a Club America chapter on their campus,” he said.
Sypher said he saw districts who say they don’t want any politically based clubs on their campuses as making a “cop-out,” because those schools may allow clubs based on other social issues.
Montana is the latest in a string of states announcing support for expanding Club America in the wake of Kirk’s death, including Oklahoma, Florida and Texas. Sypher said Nebraska is expected to be the next, with more to follow.
