Virginia Tech students decry club for 'homophobic, racist' leaked chats

Henri Gendreau 23 hrs ago

Virginia Tech students are calling for the end of a right-wing student club whose leaked private chats the university on Friday called “homophobic, racist, ableist, and misogynistic.”

Screenshots of the chats, some of which were shared with The Roanoke Times, showed students poking fun at sign language for gay people and the use of pronouns to be inclusive of trans people. Chats also repeated old right-wing conspiracies about President Barack Obama being born in Kenya and First Lady Michelle Obama being a transgender woman.

Turning Point USA at Virginia Tech, a club on campus since at least 2017, says it aims to “educate and mobilize students that believe in the free market, constitutional freedoms, and limited government to preserve liberty on our college campus and throughout our nation.” The club is affiliated with a national group founded in 2012.

As of Friday afternoon, nearly 4,200 students and others had signed an online petition started Wednesday calling for the chapter to be abolished. ... University officials released two statements Friday saying the content of some of the leaked conversations were harmful and not consistent with Virginia Tech values.

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Henri Gendreau
Henri Gendreau covers Virginia Tech for The Roanoke Times.