Sense of community at Oglethorpe and Turning Point USA

Last semester, students received a survey link from Dr. Rhana Gittens Wheeler, the chief inclusive excellence officer, about the sense of community at Oglethorpe University. This survey is administered nationally by The Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium (HEDS) to undergraduate liberal arts colleges. 

HEDS, founded in 1983, is an independent non-profit corporation committed to helping liberal arts colleges advance their education, maintain inclusive excellence, and overall student success through sharing and compiling data. 

Through initial research, HEDS has found that there are five main qualities an organization needs to foster in order to create a community: 1) a sense of belonging; 2) a sense of a welcoming institution; 3) a sense of a supportive institution; 4) a feeling of connection between members; 5) a sense of value to the community. 

“I feel like Oglethorpe University in particular is really good at saying that there is a place for everyone and actually making [it happen],” said Naomi Wagner ‘26. “If there isn’t a space for you, [Oglethorpe is] going to invite you to make that space.” 

Freya Gouinlock ‘27 also notices the amount of effort Oglethorpe puts into creating a sense of community. “On the whole, it’s a very inviting campus [with] a warm environment…The whole community really tries to come together to give [everyone] opportunities.” 

Emerson Brasfield ‘26 said: “I think that there are a lot of different opportunities set in place by [the] programming board, SGA [student government association], [and] even your RAs. [They] are trying really hard to make sure you have the opportunity to connect with…your fellow student.” 

Statistically, women and racial minorities report lower belonging at colleges nationally than their male, white counterparts. This discrepancy is even higher at historically male- and white-only institutions, like Oglethorpe University. However, students seemed to feel a relative equal sense of belonging across different identities. 

While one anonymous Black student mentioned the lack of Black professors hinders their studies due to a racial barrier, other students felt that identity does not affect one’s belonging at Oglethorpe. 

“I don’t think that that is much of a [barrier] at all,” said Brasfield, “especially because there are so many communities on campus that are built around [marginalized] communities like…OUtlet and HOLA. You have these extra groups that can offer support and connection if you feel like you're struggling to fit in.”

Most students mentioned clubs and organizations as their main source of community, especially those surrounding identities, like OUlet for queer students and HOLA for Latinx students. While clubs can bring people together, however, there is one club on campus that seems to create more of a divide than a community—Turning Point USA (TPUSA). 

TPUSA at Oglethorpe University flyer | Photo via TPUSA Oglethorpe Instagram

TPUSA is a non-profit “conservation youth activist organization in America” founded by slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk in 2012. According to their website, their mission is to “identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government.” They have chapters at over 3,500 high schools and colleges nation-wide.  

Charlie Kirk, an ally of President Donald Trump, vocalized many conservative beliefs—advocacy for Christian nationalism, pro-life ideologies, and racist rhetoric—that go against the core of Oglethorpe student values. 

Jen Williams noted that while they “feel safe being outwardly queer” at Oglethorpe, “the rise of TPUSA” has created a “muddled” feeling of belonging. 

Brenna Parks ‘29 also noted the rise of student protest against TPUSA’s installment as a chapter. “Many people, including myself, turned up to the SGA meeting against [TPUSA]…We want to have a community that can feel safe, but with [TPUSA], we can’t have a sense of community.” 

Wagner, despite being against TPUSA, recognizes that Oglethorpe is not always a space that welcomes political differences. “In my sophomore year, there was a man in my class who openly confessed he was a Republican. I think he felt like he had to confess because he was the minority, and he was expecting people to oppose him…I think we are inclusive to [traditionally] marginalized groups, but I wouldn’t say we’re inclusive politically.” 

Ryan Callaham ‘28, the president of Oglethorpe’s TPUSA chapter, agrees with Wagner’s ideas about exclusivity. “I do feel like kind of an outcast sometimes…I want to meet new people” but with “my reputation” as TPUSA president and a conservative, “I can’t do that…I fear that [other students] would turn hostile.” 

“[Oglethorpe] promotes diversity, which I think is good,” he continues, but Oglethorpe is “more welcoming to the appearance of people rather than the ideas they bring…We allow for racial and gender diversity, but not intellectual [diversity]." 

Dr Wheeler recognizes that “there’s going to be tension [between TPUSA and other students] in regards to the political landscape we’re in. However, the other tension that we’re in…is ensuring that we create spaces where people can [be themselves], regardless of some of the differences they have.”

Brasfield, however, states a reason why some students believe there is a large issue with considering a place for TPUSA on campus. “Those who are willing to entertain current Republican talking points [are] not as well respected…That comes [from] a place of fear and anger. It feels disrespectful to [marginalized] identities that are living in constant fear to entertain [Republican] beliefs.” 

Callaham has a different perspective on the concerns of students against TPUSA. He listed three main reasons these fears are perpetuated across campus: an agenda the news is pushing, peer pressure, and a lack of accountability. To further his point, he shared an anecdote about what happened at the student government meeting. “There was someone in tears [saying] we were going to end the biology department, end birth control, and people were enabling that behavior.” 

Even with this tension between TPUSA and other Oglethorpe students, Callaham still argues that “it is very, very important to not stay silent on both sides of the [political] spectrum…My purpose [as the TPUSA president] is to allow [students] to share these viewpoints while teaching them to have an open mind.” 

Dr. Wheeler sees this tension as a great opportunity to engage students in larger, important discussions. “I think community is built by allowing students to talk about…different perspectives and learn how to have those [difficult] conversations…I think we have an opportunity to teach the new generation about how to have these conversations better, and they [now] have the chance to practice that.” 

“Belonging isn’t about agreement,” Dr. Wheeler reminds us. “It’s more about coming into a space and seeing yourself reflect back…You’re able to stamp yourself into that space without someone coming back to tear it down.” 

She hopes that through analyzing the results of HEDS’s sense of community survey, Oglethorpe will have a chance to review if they really are creating a safe place for students to express themselves without fear or judgement. 

Currently, Dr. Wheeler, as well as other members involved in the survey process, are getting additional feedback from students, faculty, and staff through small groups. 

“Survey data is kind of static, so we want to have these group discussions in order to get more of a story behind the data [of the survey],” said Dr. Wheeler. “We won’t be able to tackle every problem that people will express in those surveys, but [through these small groups,] we can prioritize what we need to tackle right now or [in] the next two [to] three years.”

Once the small groups are finished and other universities in the nation complete HEDS’s sense of community survey in May, there will be presentations, as well as a general report of the survey data. That general report will include data outcomes and how Oglethorpe University will respond to some of those results. 

Dr. Wheeler hopes that through this survey, Oglethorpe can reflect the diversity that is seen in the city of Atlanta onto our own campus. "That reflects the kind of community I hope we can continue to build at Oglethorpe and in the world.”