By Esther Wickham
The Center Square

Former Oklahoma schools Superintendent Ryan Walters announced this past week a partnership with Turning Point USA to initiate chapters at every high school in the state.

Since the brutal assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, many have debated what this means for freedom of speech and freedom of religion in America. Schools and colleges across the country have started TPUSA chapters, growing the conservative movement in a matter of days.

TPUSA posted on X that six days after Kirk’s killing, the organization received 54,000 requests from high school and college students nationwide to start a chapter or get involved with an existing chapter.

The organization previously reported having only around 1,000 chapters on high school campuses and 800+ chapters on college campuses.

Kirk founded Turning Point in 2012 at the age of 18. Headquartered in Phoenix, the nonprofit seeks to advocate for conservative policies on high school and college campuses.

TPUSA wants to help students in public school, private school, or homeschool systems to establish chapters on their respective campuses.

Launching a chapter requires at least three students at a school and completion of the Chapter Charter Agreement, according to the Oklahoma Department of Education’s press release.

The Chapters will also receive an Activism Kit filled with pins, a pocket Constitution, handbooks and other materials, the press release stated.

“We will be putting TPUSA on every high school campus in Oklahoma. Charlie Kirk inspired a generation to love America, to speak boldly, and to never shy away from debate. Our kids must get involved and active,” said Walters. “We will fight back against the liberal propaganda pushed by the radical left and the teachers’ unions. Our fight starts now.”

On Friday, Walters announced he was resigning as superintendent and will now become CEO of the Teacher Freedom Alliance.

The U.S. Department of Education announced last week its partnership with TPUSA and 40 other organizations to launch the 250 Americas Civic Education Coalition to help teach civic literacy to young students in the country.

This coalition’s goal is “to ensure every young American understands the beauty of our nation and is equipped with the civic knowledge required to contribute meaningfully to its future,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said.

Meanwhile, another development in the Kirk assassination case came Thursday with the announcement that the Utah County Commission unanimously approved a contract to appoint Kathryn Nester as the defense attorney for Tyler James Robinson, 22, who has been charged with aggravated murder, discharge of a firearm causing bodily harm, two counts of obstruction of justice and two counts of witness tampering, all of which are felonies. Robinson was also charged with a misdemeanor: committing a violent act in the presence of a child.

Robinson continues to remain incarcerated at Utah County Jail without bail. Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray has said he will seek the death penalty.