Statewide access, not a requirement to form clubs
In an Oct. 30 post on X, TPUSA Students described the partnership's goal as establishing a Club America chapter in every Alaska high school. The Associated Press has reported that these state agreements do not require schools to create chapters, but make clear that administrators cannot reject efforts to start them.
Alaska follows several states that reached agreements with TPUSA over the past year, including Texas, Tennessee and Nebraska. As of April 21, 2026, at least eight Republican-led states had announced partnerships to promote chapters in every high school, according to the AP: Nebraska, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Montana, Florida, Tennessee and Indiana.
The organization told the AP in April that it had nearly 3,400 Club America chapters across all 50 states and was working on additional state partnerships. Indiana's agreement, announced in March, was the eighth and the first to specifically include collaboration on helping students register to vote when they turn 18, according to WFIU/WTIU News.
Dunleavy urges students to hold to their beliefs
At the Anchorage ceremony, Dunleavy contrasted a childhood without cell phones or computers with the technology and distractions facing students today. He urged students involved with TPUSA to remain firm in beliefs shaped by their parents, churches and supportive friends, even when challenged.
He also praised the Founding Fathers and the Constitution, noting the document's importance to the late TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk. "There's no greater country than the United States of America," Dunleavy said. He suggested that the Constitution's framers would be pleased the country had survived and described the document as what distinguishes the United States from other nations.
Alaska Education Commissioner Deena Bishop spoke before Stephen Cox, counsel to the governor. Other speakers included TPUSA Chief Field Officer Andrew Sypher and Noah Andrew, who leads the Club America chapter at Chugiak High School.
Kirk's death and the push for partnerships
Dunleavy characterized Kirk's death as a tragedy for freedom and the First Amendment. Recalling Kirk's willingness to appear before unreceptive college audiences, he said: "Charlie would go into the lion's den, as they would say, go into college campuses that didn't want him there."
Kirk, a TPUSA co-founder, was killed by a sniper while speaking on a Utah campus in early September 2025, according to the AP. The news agency reported that the effort to secure state partnerships gained momentum after his death.
Josh Thifault, TPUSA's senior director of major gifts, said the organization received more than 70,000 requests to start or join Turning Point chapters following the fatal shooting, WFIU/WTIU News reported.
Earlier in October, Dunleavy had designated Oct. 14, 2026, as "Charlie Kirk Day" in Alaska to recognize the First Amendment. He closed his remarks at the partnership announcement by reading from that proclamation.
Critics challenge state endorsements
Teachers unions and the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas are among those arguing that state support for TPUSA gives the organization unconstitutional preferential treatment, according to the AP. The ACLU of Arkansas described it as "differential treatment based on the content or viewpoint of the clubs, and a problem under the First Amendment."
The AP also reported that a Texas teachers union sued the state's education department over its response to public school employees' social media comments following Kirk's assassination. The union accused the department of an improper "wave of retaliation."
