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First Turning Point USA Event Held at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Headlined by Riley Gaines

by | Nov 20, 2025

Former NCAA swimmer and political activist Riley Gaines spoke at the first Turning Point USA (TPUSA) event at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) on Tuesday.

TPUSA was approved as a Registered Student Organization by the UTC Dean of Students Office in October after the school’s Student Government Association (SGA) previously voted against the proposal.

UTC’s approval of the TPUSA chapter came weeks after the September 10 assassination of the organization’s co-founder Charlie Kirk, which, according to the group, has led to it receiving hundreds of thousands of inquiries from people wanting to start new campus chapters.

Gaines, who had appeared at multiple campus events with Kirk before his death, headlined Tuesday’s TPUSA meeting in one of UTC’s lecture halls which was attended by over 250 students and had an overfill crowd of more than 200.

During the meeting, Gaines spoke about her relationship with Kirk, calling him a “mentor” who she is “eternally grateful” for.

“He was my boss at Turning Point and a mentor who took me under his wing, showed me the ropes, took a chance on me…I believe that the belief he had in me was almost like a transfer of confidence. I’m eternally grateful to him for that,” Gaines said.

On Wednesday’s edition of Fox News’ “Fox & Friends First,” UTC TPUSA President Sophie Fuller said Gaines’ speech on Tuesday was “incredible.”

“It was amazing and incredible to have Riley Gaines as our first speaker. It was awesome and we are so excited to get this started and get people ignited on our campus…We need a conservative revival and I believe that bringing Turning Point to every single college and high school campus is going to spark a fire in our nation,” Fuller said.

Watch:

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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Image “Turning Point Event” by Hayden Swanner.

 

 

 

   
This article may be republished only in its entirety and only with proper attribution to State News Foundation.

Written By Kaitlin Housler

Journalist
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