(RNS) — Visiting historically Black college campuses during homecoming observances over the last month, Blexit, a conservative Black group run by the late Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, has received pushback from some university officials and commentators.
Hampton University in Virginia and Howard University in Washington were among 10 institutions announced as locations of the tour by the group that was founded by conservative activist Candace Owens. The group, which describes its mission as focused on “Faith, Family, and Freedom,” merged with Turning Point USA in 2023.
According to its website, the “Elevate to Liberate” tour started on Sept. 25 at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina, and will conclude Friday (Oct. 31) at Bowie State University in Maryland and Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.
The group has previously toured historically Black campuses, but this year’s plans seemed to raise greater concerns in light of Kirk’s killing in September and increased discussion about his views, some of which have been called racist by his critics. His supporters, including some conservative Christian students, deny that description of him.
Hampton officials said Blexit made an unauthorized appearance on campus as the group did not complete an application required for vendors.
“Members of the BLEXIT organization walked onto campus on Friday, 10/24 and proceeded to film ‘man of the street’ type of content,” Richelle D. Payne, Hampton’s vice president for strategic communications …