The president of the University of Georgia’s Turning Point USA chapter has resigned just days after Vice President J.D. Vance visited campus, where the event drew a quarter-full crowd and Erika Kirk did not appear at the last minute because of security concerns.
Caroline Mattox said in her resignation letter that joining TPUSA had been a dream, but that the organization had changed so much since Charlie Kirk died last year that its mission had become dishonest. She wrote that TPUSA’s mission and purpose had been lost along the way, that its current direction no longer aligned with the principles on which it was founded, and that she had significant concerns about its messaging and trajectory. “In light of this, I am resigning from my position as president of the Turning Point USA chapter at the University of Georgia,” she wrote.
Mattox also said it had become “abundantly clear” after Charlie’s death that she could no longer defend the group’s direction. She wrote that she had seen firsthand what she believed to be TPUSA’s true path after his passing, and said, “Charlie spent his life fighting for truth, and I do not believe he would stand for the blatant dishonesty now being spread by the organization that he built.”
The resignation lands in the middle of a rough stretch for the group’s campus effort. The University of Arkansas chapter disbanded days after Erika visited it last month, with Dino Fantegrossi saying members were put off by how Charlie Kirk has been used by TPUSA since his assassination. TPUSA has also altered its Spring tour after the Georgia event and Erika’s no-show, and at the most recent stop in Waco, Texas, all media were denied access. The group said the restrictions were due to the venue it rented, while Baylor said it was clear about expectations with TP.
Andrew Kolvet blamed the low turnout in Georgia on left-wing protestors who reserved tickets, but the broader problem is harder for TPUSA to dismiss: some of the people who helped build its campus presence now say the organization has lost the purpose Charlie Kirk gave it. Mattox said she was leaving because she could no longer, in good conscience, represent a group she believed had strayed from its original principles. That makes the central question less about one weak event than about whether TPUSA can keep its college chapters together while carrying Charlie’s name in a direction some of its own members no longer trust.