Turning Point USA brought its “Prove Me Wrong” debate series to the University of Arizona Mall on Election Day with an event titled “Feminists Lied,” as student groups set up tables nearby to counter it.

By noon, a sizable crowd had formed on the Mall, with student activists and protesters from the community gathering outside the administration building.

The “Prove Me Wrong” series invites everyday people to debate the group’s featured speaker. The series was first made popular by the late Charlie Kirk.

Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, a national anti-abortion group with chapters on college campuses, was invited to the University of Arizona by the school’s Turning Point USA chapter.

The event was one of eight stops on “Feminists Lied: Prove Me Wrong,” a joint campus tour by the two groups. Students for Life of America’s website lists the University of Arizona as a stop but gives no date or host.

“At campuses across the country, including my stop at the University of Arizona, I’m seeing the same pattern: too many students still treat the science of when life begins as just an opinion, while young women in particular have absorbed the lie that abortion is empowerment,” Hawkins said. “I’m grateful for the students on campus who invited me. . . . I hope our open discussions helped more students see that every human life has value.”

By the time Turning Point USA started its event at around 11 a.m., several student groups, including Planned Parenthood Generation Action, Feminists Organized to Resist, Create and Empower and the Women’s & Gender Student Space, had already set up tables of their own, playing music from a loudspeaker.

The scene became more chaotic when a trio of sign-wielding individuals approached from Main Gate Square, as part of a religious effort separate from the two events.

“Oftentimes, these groups like to film students without their consent, rage-bait them into having arguments with them that they can put online,” said Alyssa Norris, co-director of Feminists Organized to Resist, Create and Empower. “We’re here not to debate with people, but to show them that there is a place for them to feel safe, there are mental health resources, and there is a place for them to get involved in the fight for reproductive justice.”

Planned Parenthood Generation Action President Annabelle Roldan echoed those sentiments.

“My hope is to show students that there is still support on campus, even though it can feel like everything is taken over when a large entity like Turning Point comes out and shows out and pulls out all the stops,” Roldan said. “But we’re still here. We’re still fighting for reproductive justice. We’re still fighting for abortion access.”

Chiara Mery, an intern with Reproductive Freedom for All, said the goal stays the same, whether it’s Election Day, before the election or after.

“Educating young people about what is so important about reproductive freedom, why it’s a fight they should get involved in, and also holding our politicians accountable,” Mery said.

All of the groups appeared to be operating within the University of Arizona’s Campus Use Guidelines and Policies, which require a reservation for events on the Mall and limit amplified sound to set hours, including noon to 1 p.m. on weekdays and 5 to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, unless the Dean of Students Office approves otherwise.

Quentin Agnello is a University of Arizona alum and freelance journalist in Tucson. Contact him at qsagnello@gmail.com.

Tucson Spotlight is a community-based newsroom that provides paid opportunities for students and rising journalists in Southern Arizona. Please consider supporting our work with a tax-deductible donation.