Story by Annabelle Miller

Turning Point USA hosted Brilyn Hollyhand, youth advisory council chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), in the Student Union on Tuesday, Oct. 8. 

The event was a stop on Hollyhand’s “Get Off the Sidelines” tour, which will take him to six college campuses in the month before the Nov. 5th election. 

In the presentation, Hollyhand detailed his experience working with the RNC and how young voters can get involved in politics. 

“What we need to focus on is making America talk again,” Hollyhand said. “When our country talks again, on both sides of the aisle, there’s no problem that’s too big to talk about. I think we need to listen to that and for Gen Z to construct that.”

After founding an opinion column, The Truth Gazette, and a podcast, Hollyhand gained an audience of young conservatives and attention from the RNC. He proposed the RNC Youth Advisory Council directly to the Chairwoman of the RNC, Ronna McDaniel, and became the first Chairman of the Youth Advisory Council. 

Hollyhand later published his No. 2 bestselling book, “One Generation Away.”

“It’s a message of actually doing something, not just screaming behind a bullhorn, not just complaining about the problems, but actually being productive, effective citizens of the country and using the right to vote,” Hollyhand said. 

Hollyhand stressed the importance of voting throughout his presentation and encouraged young people to engage in civil discourse. 

“I think that Gen Z needs to lead the charge of sitting down and having conversations,” Hollyhand said. “It is so, so scary to many people, but I think it’s important because even if we leave this table disagreeing, guess what, we had a conversation. That’s better than the adults in Washington D.C. or not having the conversation (at all).”

At his other tour stops, Hollyhand said the reaction was positive, despite a few protests. The event at UM had a turnout of around 30 students.

Jack Behuniak, sophomore history major, is the UM Turning Point USA Chapter President. He helped organize the event with Hollyhand in coordination with the national Turning Point USA organization. 

“We always love to give different conservative perspectives,” Behuniak said. “That’s really our goal: to push for openness and the ability to see where people are coming from.”

Hollyhand’s event marked the second meeting for Turning Point USA, and Behuniak said they are planning for several more speakers to visit, including Riley Gaines, former University of Kentucky swimmer and founder of the Gaines for Girls podcast, on Tuesday, Oct. 29.

“What I hope that students take out of this is that there’s an important civic duty, as we are (25) days out from the election,” Behuniak said. 

Addison Adcock, a sophomore business major and Turning Point USA secretary, said it is important to host speakers like Hollyhand.

“I feel like having this is not only going to help us succeed individually, but succeed as a generation and in what we really want to contribute to American history,” Adcock said. 

Adcock said she is excited about the turnout for the event and the precedent set for future events. She said Hollyhand’s call to action is important to young voters. 

“If you’re passionate about something, you should speak up for it — you should tell your friends about it, you should be on fire for the path that you’re on,” Adcock said. 

Jonathan Hayward, a junior political science major, attended the event and found the strategies for getting involved with politics interesting.

“I definitely learned how far behind the Republican Party is in terms of outreach to the youth. I think it’s important to have younger Republicans,” Hayward said.