Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk brought her “America: Love it or Leave It” tour to Elgin’s Judson University Tuesday and was greeted by a crowd who lined up early to attend — and a handful of people who turned out to protest.
Students, faculty, staff and visitors gathered outside Herrick Chapel, many of whom were wearing patriotic gear like red sweatshirts emblazoned with the word, “Freedom.”
Kirk is a businesswoman and podcaster who took over as head of Turning Point following the murder of her husband, Charlie Kirk, in September 2025.
The tour aims to “encourage students to defend free speech, challenge prevailing college narratives, affirm the values of American principles and confront the fashionable anti-Americanism that insists on hating the country while refusing to leave it,” according to a Turning Point USA news release announcing the tour.
The organization did not allow media coverage of the event.
Kirk’s fall campus tour is making stops across the country with special guests that include Donald Trump Jr.; Tulsi Gabbard, former director of U.S. National Intelligence; Glenn Beck, a conservative political commentator and radio host; and Ben Shapiro, conservative political commentator and media host.
In addition to those who protested at the event, social media commenters voiced criticism that the Christian university would host Kirk and Turning Point, which has been cited by some for its provocative and controversial positions. Among them were Elgin City Council members Tish Powell and Diana Alfaro.
“This is not a good look for an institution that claims to want to be part of our extremely diverse community and actively recruits students of color to attend their university,” Powell wrote.
Quoting poet Maya Angelou, she wrote, “‘when people show you who they are, believe them.’ We see you, Judson University. No more plausible deniability.”
A Judson University spokesperson said the university did not invite Kirk to campus and declined to comment on Kirk’s appearance. The university has a Turning Point USA chapter.
While protests were reportedly planned, only a few people actually attended in opposition. The university is a private school and security was tight.
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June, a college student who asked that her last name not be used, took to the sidewalk outside Judson’s entrance on West River Road.
“I think it’s important to exercise our First Amendment rights,” the 18-year-old said. “I see a lot of Republicans talk about First Amendment rights and how they are very important and should be upheld. But when a left-leaning person tries to express themselves, they shut them down and say all this crazy stuff about them.”
The Elgin resident said Republicans mock the deaths of people like Alex Pretti and Renee Good, both of whom were killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in two separate shootings.
“I just think it’s unfair,” June said.
Judson University, as a private institution, is allowed to host or invite anyone they want to campus, but the decision questionable, she said.
“I know a lot of the things Charlie Kirk said, and a lot of them were not good. A lot of them were hurtful to many demographics,” June said.
Kirk’s life and death, which occurred while he was doing a live appearance, were controversial. He headlined right-wing rallies and led a campus tour titled, “You’re Being Brainwashed,” during the 2024 election.
His organization was created to “empower generations of patriots to stand for freedom, defend liberty and win the American culture war,” according to its website, but was criticized for its sometimes extreme views on such subjects as Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Martin Luther King Jr. and its promotion of COVID-19 misinformation.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The (Elgin) Courier-News.