Red Make America Great Again hats, DPS and LAPD officers, and a swarm of USC students congregated around Tommy Trojan on Monday.
Kirk’s tent, which read “Prove Me Wrong,” welcomed those eager to debate the conservative political activist. Mason Yonover, a creative writing major, was one of those who raised his hand high. After being called on stage to debate Kirk, we asked him why he volunteered.
“I hated this guy for years, you know. I mean he’s just the worst... I saw an opportunity to go tell this guy off, and I felt compelled to do so,” said Yonover.
Other students showed up to support Kirk. Joseph Sarvian, a first-year law student who agrees with many of Kirk’s views, was glad he came to campus and appreciated the civil discourse.
“As someone who’s who tends to lean more conservative, I don’t just want to hear people who agree with me. I think universities are places where ideas are explored and challenged, and I think it should be a place where everybody’s welcome to come and hear ideas,” said Sarvian.
Kirk’s organization, Turning Point USA, has a local chapter at USC that helped bring him to campus as part of his tour. Kirk said his intention for the tour is to counter the left-leaning atmosphere present in academia. Senior Naima Troutt argued certain topics are just off-limits.
“I think it’s important to have open political dialog. I also think it’s important to recognize that there are certain things that shouldn’t be debated. We shouldn’t be debating personhood, we shouldn’t be debating natural rights, we shouldn’t be debating human rights. Those are inherent, those are givens,” said Troutt. “And if someone has come out against the promotion of natural and human rights, they don’t really have a place on a college campus, or really anywhere.”
Opinions like that don’t stop Kirk from speaking his mind, regardless of the reaction. Capriana, a Turning Point USA member, has experienced some not-so-civil reactions.
“I’ve definitely had a mixture of reactions, a lot of good, but a lot of bad. Some people telling me, ‘f-you,’ one girl told me to kill myself. But I mean, hey, we’re here to make a change and we got to impact one student at a time,” said Capriana.
McMurray was pleased with the turnout as dozens of students eagerly lined up to question Kirk.
“I think it’s very important to have the discourse because I think now more than ever there’s a lot of intolerance of ideas from everybody, and we learned best through discourse,” said junior neuroscience major Dario De La Rosa.
Sarvian echoed this need for conversation.
“The country is obviously very polarized right now and we need to be having more conversations instead of not talking to each other and not trying to find solutions,” said Sarvian.
It’s not always easy to hear opposing viewpoints, but the students at the event bravely offered their opinions and rebuttals.
The discussion lasted about two and a half hours and ended with Kirk tossing white 47 hats and bright red MAGA hats into the crowd. Many students, but not everyone, eagerly grabbed for them.