Campaign:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 14, 2017

In a historic move, the largest conservative campus movement in the country, Turning Point USA, and the most widely-watched conservative digital media organization in the world, PragerU, are joining forces for an unprecedented 10-part video campaign that will target issues college students deal with on leftist campuses.

Executives from both organizations collaborated to create a new joint initiative entitled, “Free to Think." Free to Think is a series of 10 short videos providing a conservative perspective on topics of particular interest to college students, from student loan debt to identity politics. The videos, produced in the PragerU’s distinctive animated style, will combine prominent presenters and profound ideas with eye-catching and entertaining on-screen animation.

The first video in the Free to Think series was released today, April 13, 2017 and stars Charlie Kirk, the founder and CEO of Turning Point USA. Many presenters will be known to millennial conservatives with Ben Shapiro as the second presenter in this highly anticipated series. When Shapiro speaks on campuses he is often met with protests from the left and adoration from students who feel like he provides them a much needed voice. Shapiro and Kirk agree that campuses pretend to be diverse but there is no diversity of thought for dialog and debate at America’s colleges and universities.

Kirk’s kickoff video addresses the culture of superficial diversity that is prevalent on college campuses today. “I have long held that liberal colleges want everyone on campus to look different, but think the same,” said Mr. Kirk. “This partnership series is called Free to Think because at its core, it aims to make students challenge their accepted notions about politics and economics. It is my hope that through Free to Think, Turning Point USA and PragerU will introduce genuine intellectual diversity to this nation’s college campuses.”

Marissa Streit, PragerU’s CEO, commented on the series: “Over the last few years, universities have intentionally created obstructions to free thinking and free expression. Safe spaces, bogus disciplinary actions, kangaroo campus courts, and restrictive speech codes variously intimidate, stifle or penalize free thought. Our Free to Think series is intended to tell students that it’s okay to think differently. Students who seek alternative perspectives need not be subject to undue scrutiny or ridicule. In fact, many students have already written PragerU, gratefully expressing their support for our work, and adding that they must learn from our videos in private, because of the climate of intolerant leftism that is all too common.”

Released over a period of 10 months, the videos will be vigorously promoted by both organizations, reflecting the high priority both groups place on the project. PragerU will promote the videos with its industry-leading social media marketing apparatus and on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter where PragerU reaches over two million individuals per week.

Turning Point USA will promote the Free to Think series through its 350 on-campus chapters nationwide. Turning Point USA will activate their senior executives, field directors, campus coordinators, and thousands of affiliated student leaders to build excitement and viewership. In the coming weeks, Turning Point USA staff will host screening events, distribute custom-branded items, and conduct grassroots face-to-face promotions for the new series.   

 “When Dennis Prager and I first met with Charlie Kirk in Dallas early this year, we knew right away that we had to work together,” said Streit. “We immediately recognized the complementary nature of our organizations’ core competencies and realized that if we could leverage them together, we could make an even more profound impact on the national campus political discourse than we already had, working toward the same ends independently.”

Kirk said, “I founded Turning Point USA right out of high school. I never attended college. I took up conservative ideas even when they were very unpopular. Through all this, Dennis Prager was a role model, and, though he didn’t know it, something of a mentor to me. When I first discovered PragerU, I was elated. Now, I am deeply honored to be partnering with Mr. Prager’s organization for the Free to Think series.”

MEDIA CONTACT: ELISHA KRAUSS, OUTREACH DIRECTOR, PRAGERU EMAIL: ELISHAK@PRAGERU.COM