LTHS Conservative Students Threatened: Leader

LA GRANGE, IL — Members of an unofficial conservative club at Lyons Township High School remain the target of threats and "immature" comments from their fellow students and residents, the group's leader said last week.

At a school board meeting, Leslie Mendoza, a senior and president of the local Turning Point USA chapter, said many are unaware of the "powerless situation" that Americans are in.

"Big government, the media and our nation's leaders have managed to yet again turn us against each other," Mendoza said. "Conservatives around the country are constantly silenced, and your conservative students here at LT continue to be threatened and have to deal with immature comments from our fellow students and community members."

Mendoza did not describe the threats or comments.

She said conservative students are still trying to understand why they are getting this treatment from students who say they advocate equality and acceptance.

"We figured out that tolerance and acceptance for all applies to the people who only have the same beliefs as they do," Mendoza said.

For years, she said, the community has heard the high school is a place that respects the inherent dignity of each student and where every student feels included.

"Prove it to me. Prove it to all of us that LT provides students with a sense of belonging," Mendoza said.

She noted the school has kept Turning Point from becoming an official school club, a group that she said would let students "express themselves openly without fear of retaliation."

In its denial earlier this year, the school said it did not approve partisan organizations. However, Mendoza said the national Turning Point group is nonpartisan, saying its nonprofit tax status required it to be.

Last week, Patch asked a school spokeswoman about the status of Turning Point's efforts to become a club. She noted the denial, but she said she was not sure whether the group had reapplied. The official who handles applications was away from the office, she said.

In her speech to the board, Mendoza also criticized the requirement to wear masks, a mandate issued by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat.

"May I suggest we move classes to school lunchrooms since there's apparently no fear of COVID there," Mendoza said. "Students sit about a foot from each other maskless, and there's no sign of COVID there. The science is there — masks don't work. How about when teachers sit in their classrooms — about 20 of them without masks? Why doesn't it apply to them? There's a problem there, and we've got to deal with it. Not going anywhere."

Meanwhile, the local Turning Point chamber maintains an active Facebook presence. Its page is called "TPUSA at LTHS."

Earlier this month, the group wished everyone "a very Happy Columbus Day." The post included a meme that stated, "Christopher Columbus — the only immigrant that leftists hate."

Patch left a message with the Facebook page's administrator about the group's efforts at becoming an official club. No one responded.