Editor’s Note: This article contains mention of abortion. App State Wellness and Prevention Services provides free mental health resources for students and can be reached at (828) 262-3148. Women’s Health of UNC Health Appalachian provides services and support and can be reached at (828) 268-8970.
Under the bright midday sun, students often linger on Sanford Mall, but Turning Point USA’s “Prove Me Wrong” event Thursday invited students to linger for reasons other than the weather.
The event is part of TPUSA’s “Pick Up The Mic” initiative, which aims to promote free speech and open dialogue on college campuses, according to its website.
“Charlie Kirk built a movement from under a tent with one table, one mic, and a line of students stepping forward to debate,” TPUSA’s website reads. “Now the tent is back, and a new generation of TPUSA chapters is bringing that presence to the center of campus.”
The speaker for Thursday’s event was Shane Winnings, a preacher and podcaster, as well as chairman and CEO of Promise Keepers. His company is an initiative dedicated to shaping “a generation of men dedicated to Godly leadership,” according to its website.
During the event, TPUSA members held up signs reading “abortion is murder” and “outlaw gay marriage” under the event’s slogan of “prove me wrong.”
Students were invited to ask Winnings questions or bring up points of his arguments they disagreed with. Along with abortion and gay marriage, topics included religion, foreign affairs, Iran, immigration, free speech and more.
“When we stop talking is when we start fighting,” Winnings said.
One bystander, senior finance and banking major Charlie Cox, said he’s not a member of Turning Point, but he’s been in support of them for a while.
“Nobody’s right about everything, right? So, that’s why I think it’s important to have these on college campuses,” Cox said. “Because if you can learn at a young age to talk to other people and to hear perspectives, I think that would be better overall as our generation grows up.”
App State College Democrats tabled across from the event, handing out flyers encouraging students not to engage with the debate.
Taylor Carnevale-Somersett, a graduate political science student and president of College Democrats, said the style of debate is harmful for students.
“It’s a very uneven power dynamic, this outsider with a mic while you’re being filmed with two different cameras on you,” Carnevale-Somersett said. “It’s not productive for any kind of actual conversation to reach and bridge those political gaps.”
The College Democrats flyer included a QR Code bringing readers to an open letter to the university. The letter was written by junior history education major Ascher Denton in opposition to televised or recorded events being allowed on campus.
One of Denton’s concerns is “clip-farming,” which refers to online personalities purposefully creating outrageous or shocking moments on camera with the intent for them to go viral.
“We are hoping to reach out to the university and hoping to make some kind of change. Even if a change is not made, we are looking to show them that we do not want predatory organizations on campus that make money off of a student getting doxed, clip-farmed and having their entire future ruined,” Denton said.
Free speech on college campuses has been a highly-debated issue and a point of concern for many students. Cox said a lot of professors will “push their agenda” in the classroom and he’s experienced it multiple times.
“I think free speech in that sense is restricted because I can’t say what I want to say back cause they’re the one that signs my grades,” Cox said.
Shane Winnings • Apr 16, 2026 at 1:33 pm
Solid and fair article, simply summarizing the event and featuring both sides. This is so rare in media and journalism today. Well done