At universities across Boston, where liberal politics sometimes dominate classroom discussions and campus events, conservative student groups are quietly organizing. At schools like Boston University, Boston College, and Northeastern University, groups are determined to engage in the city’s political conversation on their own terms with like-minded peers.
“It’s great to have this safe space for students where they can talk about their ideal beliefs, challenging one another without being criticized,” said Philip Wohltorf, the vice president of the Boston University College Republicans.
Based on a student poll from Niche, Boston University was ranked the most liberal college in Massachusetts and the eighth most liberal in the country.
Some local students say Republican campus groups have allowed those coming from conservative homes to find comfort within their political ideology.
“It was very important for me to join an organization that still was true to my morals, my values, my principles,” said Aidan Sproule, the vice president of Northeastern Republicans.
Sproule, a senior journalism major, said he felt lost in his first semester at Northeastern before he joined the group. It was in his second year that he attended a BUCR meeting and found what he describes as his community.
“I’d never seen a club or an organization or anything like that have such an open dialogue,” said Sproule, who found a place in the group to discuss issues of a free market, a free economy, and the “American Dream.”
Members of Democratic groups on local college campuses expressed similar reasons for joining their organizations. Natalie Bruckert, the vice president of College Democrats of Boston College, said it has been a comfort to have a place to discuss political topics.
“On a personal level, being able to know that there’s a group that I can go back to that also cares and also is engaged has helped me get through a lot of this uncertainty and divisive times,” said Bruckert.
National attention on campus conservatism increased following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last month amid broader political unrest in Boston. Nationally, political tensions continue to rise, with debates in the Capitol heating up over immigration policies, Medicare, and concerns over free speech.
Both Northeastern and Boston University’s conservative groups saw an uptick in engagement since Kirk’s death in September. This echoes a recent increase in national Turning Point USA recruitment to include 900 official college chapters and 1,200 high school chapters, according to Andrew Kolvet, the executive producer of The Charlie Kirk Show on X. More than 54,000 inquiries into starting new campus chapters were submitted, according to reporting by The New York Times. Wohltorf says this has been in large part due to a shared sense of outrage over political violence.
“Like Charlie Kirk said, if we stop talking, it’s going to get violent, and that should never be the case,” said Wolhtof.
Boston University’s conservative group gained traction after it sent a letter following Kirk’s death to the college president, Dr. Melissa L. Gilliam. In the letter, they argued Boston University should be an “institution where diversity of thought is valuable,” Wolhtof said. The letter was cited by The Wall Street Journal, and the group has since been featured by Fox News, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and NBC.
“Before, we were like a little-known club. Nobody really knew there [were] Republicans on campus. Now everyone knows,” said Wohltorf.
Wohltorf said the organization has “kind of blown up” since the letter, with 25 people signing up to join within two weeks. He said they received a positive reaction from BU alumni and support from university administration. The group met with the college president as well as several deans to discuss diversity in politics on campus.
Emerson College previously had a Turning Point chapter, which was suspended in 2022. The group faced controversy from students and administration after members handed out stickers reading “China kinda sus,” meant to criticize the Chinese government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The college investigated the group for potential bias-related conduct, citing concerns about anti-Asian sentiments amid rising hate incidents. Emerson suspended and then derecognized the chapter, prompting free speech advocates like FIRE to file complaints accusing the college of violating its own expression policies.
At Northeastern, Sproule has also seen increased engagement since Kirk’s death. He said at a meeting following Kirk’s assassination, participation numbers doubled. According to Sproule, the group’s messaging has promoted the unity of Americans against political violence.
“It was people I’ve never seen before who just, in a beautiful way, all united together,” said Sproule.
He says it has been a lesson in the power of being vocal about one’s beliefs, which he said was the reason Kirk was assassinated.
Both Sproule and Wohltorf expressed disappointment with the mocking and celebratory rhetoric they said circulated online and around Boston after Kirk’s death. Following his assassination, a candlelight vigil for Kirk on Boston Common drew hundreds of supporters, both Democrats and Republicans. It also drew a sizable group of counter-protesters, forcing the event to end early over safety concerns. Sproule said he was particularly upset over videos showing counter-protesters at the vigil on the Common.
“The videos I saw were pretty disgusting of protesters causing a riot at a vigil for a man who they’re celebrating got assassinated,” Sproule, a Kansas native, said. “I personally was quite shocked, coming from an area where my neighbors are Republican, and everyone doesn’t believe in that level of violence.”
At Boston College, the student Republican group recently came under criticism when a guest speaker said conservatives need to be “willing to be killed.” The statements were made by Nick Solheim, CEO of American Moment, a right-wing youth organization, at an event titled “How to Implement the MAGA Agenda.” Solheim referenced Kirk’s assassination, saying the time for peaceful dialogue is over, but also urged the crowd not to turn to political violence.
Boston College’s Democrats condemned Solheim’s comments, stating in an open letter, posted to their Instagram, that “violent and dehumanizing rhetoric” was “not only false, but irresponsible.” The group said such claims promote fear and division.
“We want to still be having open and honest conversations. You can have political discourse and you can disagree without going to the extreme of dying for a cause,” said Bruckert.
Bruckert says the Democrats also held several discussions regarding the assassination of Kirk and its impact. Bruckert, as well as the president of Boston College Democrats, Allison Roever, say while they want everyone to express their opinions, they condemn the use of violence and violent rhetoric.
Roever said the rhetoric used by the speaker and across the political spectrum has promoted an “us versus them” mindset.
Sproule, a Republican, said Northeastern’s group sees a “marketplace of ideas.” He expressed that students not in the group sometimes have the wrong idea about its members.
“The vast majority of our members are not people walking down Huntington Avenue with a MAGA hat on,” he said. “These are people who hold their morals and principles very closely to themselves…It’s more about what they believe in, and having a space for them.”
But according to Elle O’Neil, the president of the College Democrats of Northeastern University, the Northeastern Republicans have a reputation for being aligned with Trump. She cited an instance when the group decorated their club recruitment fair table with “Gulf of America” items, referencing Trump’s executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico.
“I feel like if maybe they were more open to not being completely tied to the Trump Administration, they’d have maybe better luck at getting dialogue,” said O’Neil. “But from at least my perspective, it seems that the gist of the Republican Party on our campus is very much intertwined with Trump.”
Since the rise of the ‘Make America Great Again’ movement under President Donald Trump, some say the Republican Party has undergone a significant ideological shift, pushing the party further to the right. Sproule, however, said not all Republicans think the same way. He said there are several groups within the political party, and that most conservatives are centrists. Kirk, he believes, was “as centrist a Republican as you can get.”
At Northeastern University, the Democratic and Republican groups have been in contact about the possibility of hosting a debate between the two, according to O’Neil. She said that while she is happy to have a dialogue, it might not be effective. She said she has had several conversations that end up coming back to LGBTQ+ rights or immigration, which she says do not get very far.
“We often find that debate and dialogue is really hard in those situations,” said O’Neil.
After Kirk’s death, employees in institutions from education to late-night entertainment have been disciplined for allegedly mocking the assassination. The New York Times has identified over 100 cases of people facing workplace consequences as a result of speaking against Kirk after his death. In schools and colleges, employees have been fired or placed on leave over social media posts about Kirk’s assassination. These firings raised concerns over possible violations of free speech, as most were made outside of work hours.
According to O’Neil, much of the reason for the Republican groups’ perceived isolation is self-inflicted.
“I want to talk about, say, pricing, and then inevitably, it’s something about trans people, something about immigrants,” said O’Neil, who is transgender. “I’m tired of hearing all these attacks. It’s kind of hard to talk with a lot of Republican people when it’s just attack and attack and attack.”
Roever said in such a divisive time, there should be more opportunities for people across the political spectrum to treat each other respectfully.
“There needs to be ways for us as a society to calm down and see each other as fellow Americans, rather than Democratic [or] Republican,” said Roever.
Moving forward, Wohltorf and Sproule say they intend to continue speaking on behalf of their beliefs.
“We’re not going to let Charlie Kirk’s assassination define us as cowards, but rather as brave patriots who love our country who will not back down to left-wing violence,” said Sproule.
