BARRE – Turning Point USA is trying to survive in deep blue Vermont largely on the backs of two resilient teenagers.
TPUSA had a booth at the Barre Heritage Festival during the last week of July. They got lots of love and engagement, as well as the occasional middle finger from those who disapprove of the famous youth-focused, pro-free-speech, pro-free-market organization.
Seth Fewer and Javion Kastner will be sophomores at Spaulding High School in Barre this fall. Fewer is president of the local TPUSA chapter; Kastner is the vice president. Renee McEvilly, from upstate New York, is the organization’s High School Field Representative for much of the northeast. Together she and Fewer managed the booth, helping register Vermonters to vote.
Spaulding High School teaching staff has been generally unsupportive.
“I will say that we asked nine teachers there to be the chapter advisor and every single one of them said no for one reason or another,” Fewer said.
Currently, TPUSA in Vermont exists as an independent organization separate from the school.
“They are definitely trying to censor us a little bit; they don’t let us pass out our flyers or put up our pins or anything,” Fewer said. “So really word-of-mouth is the strongest thing you can do that they can’t take away from you.”
Fewer talked about how he copes with doing activism in sometimes unfriendly territory.
“At the end of the day you’ve got to remember that not everyone is going to appreciate what you are doing,” Fewer said. “The work that you are doing is important for different places like Vermont. So even if people don’t like what you are doing, it’s important to never quit, never surrender.”
He talked about engaging with folks who think differently.
“So really I learned that with a lot of people, you can’t change their mind,” he said. “But you can discuss your different ideas, you can try to find the common ground, but with some people you can’t just change their mind, and you’ve got to come to terms with that.”
A woman who was a self-described socialist visited the tent. She appreciated the efforts of TPUSA on the grounds that they share other values such as freedom of speech.
It doesn’t always work out when they engage with critics.
“They don’t take a dive into exactly what we’re doing,” McEvilly said. “The conversations that we do get to have with the people who disagree with us, they walk away.
“I want freedom of speech, I want the Second Amendment, I want our kids to go to school here. I want them to go to college and come back and have a job here. All of those things that are important issues that make us American.”
Rather than focus on shared values, Fewer said the opposition often tries to change the subject.
“Usually they just try to bring it back to Charlie Kirk, or they bring it back to Donald Trump. They always bring it back to a person.”
Nonetheless, they are still engaging with other students.
“We had an event a couple days ago with Renee actually, bringing like ten students together, all like-minded,” Fewer said. “We did some practice debating, we did a few different things just getting people ready and organized for this next school year so we’re looking to do some really good things.”
Fewer was wearing a shirt that simply said “freedom” on the front, similar to the now-famous shirt worn by TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk during his assassination last summer.
“This shirt actually comes from a chapter leadership summit in Washington DC, they gave every single student one of these. Freedom, it’s extremely important. Especially in a time like this, freedom of speech and freedom of everything, all of your rights. Freedom is an extremely important message and in fact his legacy is your voice. Charlie Kirk’s legacy is passing it down to the next generation, it’s extremely important.”
Fewer and Kastner went to Washington DC that included a trip to the White House, meeting various political leaders, as well as a Yankees and Nationals Major League Baseball game. McEvilly talked about how TPUSA helps students gain new experiences by traveling America.
“Being able to meet with other students and other people from across the country and that fellowship really makes you think that you really are not alone,” she said.
Michael Bielawski is a freelance news writer with over a decade’s experience covering news in Vermont. He works at youtube.com/@TheLastDefense26 covering international politics.
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