TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION) — Turning Point USA (TPUSA) at Troy welcomed a guest speaker to kick off the organization’s first meeting of the semester. 

TPUSA at Troy welcomed nineteen-year-old political commentator and Auburn University freshman, Brilyn Hollyhand. Troy University is the second stop of the ten-stop “One Conversation at a Time Tour,” where Hollyhand will speak to college campuses throughout the southeast. 

Hollyhand said having civil conversations is the way to unite the country. 

“We live in a world where we’re told to be quiet,” Hollyhand said. “We live in a world where we’re told not to express our opinions and that’s how we got to where we are now, as a country. We don’t know how to express our opinions.

“We know how to scream at each other, and we know how to assassinate one another; but we don’t know how to talk to each other. When we get back to a culture of civil discourse, that’s how we heal the country.” 

Hollyhand shared his political journey with students and spoke about his friendship with Turning Point USA founder, Charlie Kirk. In the wake of Kirk’s death, Hollyhand encourages students to be brave and to stand up for what they believe in. 

“It would be extremely easy for all of us in this room to cower,” Hollyhand said. “It would be extremely easy for us to get silenced. The coward that assassinated my friend attempted to silence us. He wanted us to cower. 

“He wanted a funeral but instead got a revival and that’s what we’re seeing sweep across this nation.”  

Over 200 students and members from the Pike County community attended the meeting. Turning Point USA at Troy President Caitlyn Harris said she was pleased with the turnout. 

MORE FOR YOU: Charlie Kirk remembered during on-campus vigil

“When we started this chapter, we were told there would be so many people against us,” Harris said. “We were told it was going to take a lot of effort, and it was going to be hard. I was flabbergasted seeing so many people at our very first meeting. It was beyond anything I had ever experienced before in my life.” 

After his main remarks, Hollyhand took questions from members of the audience. Caroline Beason, a junior social work major from Asheville, Alabama, was one of the students who picked the young conservative’s brain. 

“I don’t know a lot about politics,” Beason said. “I want to be more informed to start talking about politics. Before I talk about it, I need to know what I’m talking about. I asked Brilyn about the small steps that I could take to become informed, and he advised me to read a lot. 

“He told me to look at all sides of a story and then look at unbiased news sources as well.” 

The “One Conversation at a Time Tour” will end on Nov. 10 at Florida State University.