A packed crowd wildly cheered on conservative standardbearer Glenn Beck for a Turning Point USA rally in Grand Forks Thursday night, in what the local newspaper said “felt like the biggest rally North Dakota has seen.”

Yet, even amid a tsunami of interest and growth in TPUSA chapters around the nation, The Heartlander has received allegations of bullying, harassment and administrative pushback against young patriots forming, or seeking to form, high school chapters in the Kansas City area on the Missouri side.

At Pleasant Hill High School, Club America organizer Alex Mckee wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday that his dealings with the school have been oddly unpleasant, saying he feels bullied by a dismissive, sarcastic school administrator and otherwise unsupported by the principal, and asking the public to send supportive emails to school and district officials.

“My Turning Point USA chapter at Pleasant Hill High School has been facing significant backlash from the administration,” he wrote. “They’ve been actively preventing me from displaying posters around the school, belittling me, and harassing me for my political views.”

He wrote that school officials disapproved of Turning Point posters featuring the “We the people” quote from the Constitution’s preamble, adding that one school official called the Constitution politically dangerous.

“Surprisingly,” Mckee wrote, a school official has “been quite harsh with me.”

The chapter was recognized in August, and Mckee tells The Heartlander after a meeting with the assistant superintendent Thursday night, “We’re in the final stages of addressing admin bullying and harassment. Expect everything to be completed by the end of the week, and normal operations should resume before next week’s end.

“I am confident that the board will move forward, but I have some concerns that the administration at the high school may have a left-leaning position on our chapter even after resolving it at a meeting with the assistant superintendent.”

The Heartlander reached out for comment to a Pleasant Hill district spokesperson asking whether Club America will be welcome and supported by administrators there.

Mckee, a junior who among other activities is a former student council president, describes himself on his Facebook page as a “future politician.”

“I’m going to be majoring in Political Science and get a law degree when I get out of high school, so I’ve been looking to become a public servant in any way I can,” he tells The Heartlander.

The Heartlander also has received reports of alleged bullying, threats and harassment of Club America members – the name for high school TPUSA chapters – at Platte County R-3 High School, for which a source says “the administration seems to be doing very little.”

District spokesperson Laura Hulett called that “inaccurate” in a statement to The Heartlander.

“Club America is an approved, student-initiated club that operates under the same policies and with the same rights and responsibilities afforded to all other student-initiated organizations at Platte County High School,” she wrote. “The club has been active since the 2024-25 school year and provides students with opportunities to engage in activities outside of the academic day, consistent with other school clubs.

“The Platte County R-3 School District takes all reports of harassment, bullying, or threats very seriously. The suggestion that our high school administration has done little to address such concerns is inaccurate. Any incidents of student misbehavior are investigated and addressed in accordance with district policy and have been handled appropriately by school administration.

“We remain committed to maintaining a safe, respectful, and supportive environment for all students and student groups.”

Resistance to TPUSA and Club America is popping up around the country, however, after the patriotic nonprofit received tens of thousands of requests to start new chapters following founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination Sept. 10.

The TPUSA chapter president at Concordia University Wisconsin, a Lutheran university in Mequon, posted this on X Oct. 1:

“For 2 years, I’ve fought to get our chapter recognized. Bureaucracy and stonewalling made me give up at one point. But after Charlie’s passing, I found a fire I’ve never felt before. There’s a real revival happening on my campus.

“So I resubmitted our chapter for approval — to carry out Charlie’s vision of a TPUSA chapter on every college campus. The university made it clear that they will deny us again.

“Why?

“Because I won’t publicly denounce the Professor Watchlist – an educational tool that lets students know who the marxist professors are so they can plan their courseload accordingly.

“Let me be absolutely clear:

🛑 I will NOT denounce the Watchlist.

🛑 I will NOT be silenced.

🛑 I will NOT let Charlie’s legacy die on this campus.

“This isn’t just about TPUSA. It’s about truth and freedom.”

The chapter president followed up with this post a day later:

“I didn’t expect the tweet to gain much traction, but it turns out there’s a real fire in people to defend the right to organize and to help fulfill Charlie’s vision of a TPUSA chapter on every campus in America.

“I’m thrilled to announce that less than 24 hours later, our chapter has officially been approved as a registered student organization! We’re now ready to get to work immediately on registering voters, standing for dialogue, and carrying forward the mission of truth on campus.

“Huge thank you to Congressman [Derrick Van Orden] for stepping in on such short notice to help and to everyone who showed their support for me. … Also a huge shoutout to @elonmusk for helping get the word out. The power of the revival is real.”

At Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, says an X post, as TPUSA members “conducted a tabling on campus, a student walked [up] and swiped their merchandise off the table and onto the ground before stealing their sign.”

At the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the Student Government Association denied recognition of the school’s TPUSA chapter. Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of The Charlie Kirk Show, warned the decision meant the chapter would “be forced to restart the process, reapplying and once again facing the same SGA that has already demonstrated clear bias against them.”

Citizen journalist and podcaster Benny Johnson reported Thursday morning the decision was based on “false ‘hate speech’ smears” against TPUSA.

However, conservative activist Robby Starbuck updated the situation later that morning, posting that the chapter “has been approved now after the school overruled the student gov association who tried to stop the chapter formation.”