A group of politically conservative students has started a campus chapter of Turning Point USA, the organization founded by murdered Republican activist Charlie Kirk.

Two student officers, who asked Campus Current to withhold their names because of a concern for their privacy and safety, held the chapter’s first meeting on campus Sept. 22 with approximately a dozen potential members and said they are applying for status as an official student club with the Office of Student Engagement.

“We come in peace, completely,” one of the officers said. “We’re not trying to cause a ruckus on campus or anything like that whatsoever. We just want everybody that is like minded to have a safe space.” 

Maryland Delegate LaToya Nkongolo, a Republican who represents Anne Arundel County, announced the club’s formation on Facebook on Sept. 17. The post was shared nearly 70 times, got more than 500 likes and drew responses from more than 100 users, including a number of AACC faculty and students.

Nkongolo called the campus chapter a “game changer for those who have actually listened and dissected the debates for years.” Turning Point USA frequently hosted political debates with Kirk on college campuses.

Kirk founded Turning Point USA in 2012 and was known for his podcast, “The Charlie Kirk Show” and his conservative speeches on college campuses around the country. After he was shot by an assassin in Utah on Sept. 10, President Donald Trump and a slew of high-level Republicans publicly mourned his death.

In an interview with Fox News, Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of Kirk’s podcast, said the organization has fielded more than 54,000 requests from college students interested in forming new chapters since Kirk’s death. Kolvet said Turning Point USA already has 900 college and 1,200 high school chapters.