The nation’s top young female conservative activists will gather in June to train in the methods they will use to bring the message that the ideology of the Left will make women more dependent on government and less successful in their individual goals.
The Young Women’s Leadership Summit, sponsored by Turning Point USA (TPUSA), will be held June 14-18 at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois. There, conservative millennial women will learn how to stand up to the Left on their campuses, identify new conservative activists, build chapters, register voters, and – perhaps most importantly – educate their peers.
Crystal Clanton, TPUSA’s national field director, is organizing the summit. The Illinois resident tells Breitbart News that the Left’s message that women need government to fulfill their needs, i.e., free birth control, abortion on demand, welfare assistance, and free education – is way off base.
“The Left is wrong,” Clanton explains. “Saying that women need government is insulting. Women are very capable, but the Left doesn’t always believe that.”
Clanton asserted the reason why conservatism appeals to young women is due to its message that a woman has the ability to achieve great things on her own.
“That message of empowerment and faith in women is very appealing,” she says. “We go to campuses to talk to students of all backgrounds and ideologies and explain our viewpoints in a peer-to-peer conversation. It’s very effective.”
Clanton explained that TPUSA is essentially replicating the community organizing tactics used by the Left to identify, organize, and educate young people on college campuses.
“Every day we find students who say they never knew they were conservative, but because of us they realize they are,” she says.
“We’re using edgy, relevant messaging techniques and aggressive activist identification tactics, and our 24/7 – 365 activism model allows us to have thousands of face-to-face conversations with young people every day, and person by person we’re changing hearts and minds,” she continues.
Clanton believes many young women feel government has grown too intrusive and controlling. Additionally, she says women especially want to correct the waste and irresponsibility so prevalent in the government.
“Women are smart; they know it’s not right to overspend, misuse funds, and try to dictate every aspect of people’s lives,” she says.
Maha Nafees, 21, will be attending the Young Women’s Leadership Summit. She tells Breitbart News that while the Left loves to claim conservatives are waging a “war on women,” it’s the Left that owns that “war.”
“The Left always seems to be ‘babying’ women and making us feel like we can’t do a thing without their help,” Nafees asserts. “I believe that young women, and women in general, are capable of providing for themselves. We have the ability to succeed, lead, and be members of our community who can thrive without government assistance.”
Regarding leftwing government policies that promise everything for “free,” Nafees quips, “As the saying goes, nothing is really ‘free.’”
The resident of North Carolina states that conservatism is exactly what young women need.
“Most young women I know do want to be mothers, wives, educators, business owners, and leaders … and not just have one of those titles,” she explains. “What’s most appealing about conservatism to young women is the fact that we are given the opportunity to succeed as we want, and not how the government feels we should.”
“The direction our government is taking now is instilling feminist ideology in our culture to an unhealthy extent,” she added.
Nafees observes that TPUSA maintains a bold presence on college campuses, working to get out the message about fiscal responsibility, capitalism, and the free market.
“It takes grassroots organizations to bring about change through citizens who are passionate, and I believe conservatives have finally realized this in the past decade or so,” she explains. “Now there are countless grassroots groups promoting conservative ideals to students.”
The Young Women’s Leadership Summit is another opportunity to bring about “positive, concrete change,” says Nafees. “TPUSA’s summit will help so many young, passionate women strengthen their skills and further their involvement in politics.”
Morgan Bergoon, 20, is another young conservative activist from North Carolina who will attend the Young Women’s Leadership Summit.
The rising senior at Cedarville University in Ohio tells Breitbart News that the Left’s persistent promise of free birth control, free education, and other freebies to young women instills the message that women are incapable on their own.
“It communicates we are unable to provide these services for ourselves,” she explains. “We do not need the government paving our way in society simply because we are women. Generally, we prefer to exhibit our ability to succeed without such aid. I believe that the Left is wrong about this.”
“Conservatism and limited government encourage us to become independent, productive members of society,” Bergoon continues. “They allow us to create our own successes or failures.”
Observing that young women are very concerned government is “stripping away our individual rights and liberties,” Bergoon says, “The Left argues for free birth control, food stamps, abortion on demand, etc., yet these ‘free’ services take away our freedom and resources to provide for ourselves.”
She notes that the conservative message, however, is being spread to young women through social media and grassroots organizations like TPUSA.
“And we have role models such as Megyn Kelly and Elisha Krauss to encourage us to be active in spreading that message,” she adds.
Observing the challenge conservatives face on college campuses, Bergoon said the message must resonate with students through a “means that captures their attention and cannot be ignored.”
“TPUSA has been most effective because students identify with their bold, edgy messages,” she notes. “It’s one of the few organizations that does not sugarcoat the facts. They boldly proclaim what is true: Big Government Sucks.”
“Personally, I am ecstatic about the Young Women’s Leadership Summit, and to learn from more experienced women how to most effectively be involved in this fight for conservative ideals,” she says.
Clanton reports the Young Women’s Leadership Summit currently has over 130 attendees scheduled, representing over 30 different states.
“These are the top female TPUSA activists who are the true conservative warriors on their campuses,” she observes.
The summit’s speakers include Rachel Campos-Duffy, Rep. Sarah Laszloffy, Heather Higgins, Elisha Krauss, and Willard Helander. Training sessions will address topics such as how to organize on campus, how to plan and execute events, methods of messaging conservatism on campus, use of social media to advance conservative philosophy, and even how to launch a career in conservative politics.
“We’re teaching the cutting-edge community organizing tactics of the Left, and each of our summit attendees will leave with an action plan so that they can be effective and efficient activists on their own campuses and in their communities,” Clanton notes, adding that all applicants to the summit are selected based on both an online application and a phone interview.
Clanton said the Young Women’s Leadership Summit is the first event of its kind. TPUSA is hosting two additional conferences this summer: a Young Latino Leadership Summit in July and a High School Activist Conference in August. Further information about the summits can be found at http://www.turningpointusa.net.
TPUSA founder and executive director, Charlie Kirk, tells Breitbart News it is time conservatives acknowledge the importance of organizing on college campuses.
“For years the Democratic Party has been able to successfully channel and organize young women voters towards liberal activism and anti-conservative ideas,” he says.
“At Turning Point USA we have seen the effectiveness of the far-left on college campuses. Left-wing organizations host seminars, events, and trainings to engage and empower young women around liberal ideology,” he continues. “Unfortunately we have not seen the same commitment or investment from the Republicans or conservatives.”
Kirk states TPUSA is taking up that task.
“We are enthusiastically filling that void by offering the largest activist-focused event for young women in the conservative movement,” he says about the Young Women’s Leadership Summit. “This will be a ground-breaking three-day event and just the first of many grassroots trainings and workshops we will be doing for our college activists.”
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