TPUSA speaker draws bipartisan crowd to College Republicans event

A crowd of around 70 people gathered in Shideler Hall to hear Isabel Brown, a conservative internet personality and Turning Point USA speaker, Thursday, April 16. Brown touched on many topics during her speech, like the backlash she has received for promoting her views, benefits of marriage and children, declining birthrates and Christianity. She also reflected on the death of her friend and mentor Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated Sept. 10, 2025.

Brown discussed the ways she believes family and motherhood have been portrayed in the media. Specifically, she criticized a series of pieces in New York Magazine, entitled “I Regret Having Children.” Publications, TV shows and influencers push a narrative that family and children ruin young women’s lives, Brown said.

“It’s become increasingly obvious to me with every passing day that there is a unique cultural war being waged against the family, specifically in the United States of America and across western civilization,” Brown said.

Brown said she encourages young men and women to have more children than they think they can afford, because having children increases a person’s lifetime opportunity for wealth. The data surrounding parental income is complex, because a number of factors can influence salary, including education level, discriminatory hiring practices and issues with calculating how much women might earn if they didn’t have children. However, a 2023 study by PEW Research Center shows that while fathers tend to earn more than other men without children, mothers earn less than other women without children.

Additionally, Brown said Generation Z has rejected the status quo, embraced Christianity, prioritized health and rejected traditional news media reporting.

“It’s Gen Z who is refusing to pay $250,000 and go into massive debt to get a degree in something like underwater lesbian basket weaving, and instead, we’re pursuing STEM careers,” Brown said. “We’re going to trade schools and embracing entrepreneurship.”

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Brown also briefly discussed issues of representation from younger Americans in government roles. She said the age of representatives in the House and Senate presents issues when they make decisions that are not in line with the beliefs of their younger constituents. The median age of a member of the U.S. House of Representatives is 57.7 years, and the median age of a member of the U.S. Senate is 64.7, according to the PEW Research Center.

Toward the end of her speech, Brown pivoted to talk about the ways online culture, particularly from content creators, has been extremely reactive. She said although it’s easy to make videos vilifying the beliefs of others, it eliminates the ability to open a dialogue with those of differing beliefs, which ultimately contributes to high levels of social tension and political polarization.

“I’m pretty sick of it. I’m tired,” Brown said. “I’m exhausted at solely pointing the finger at the left and saying that idea is really, really bad, and not actually building something as an alternative, creating something meaningful with our hands, build good culture instead.”

Brown then took questions from the crowd. Several students voiced opposition or asked her to further explain her beliefs.

Brown said her goal was not to convince young women that motherhood was the only option, but rather add a perspective she felt was missing.

“The narrative for young women in particular is often one or the other. Period. Full stop,” Brown said. “[It’s] from both sides of the political aisle. I’m not often very popular for telling young women you can do both.”

Brown ended the Q&A session by thanking students, particularly those who opposed her views, for coming to the event.

“I think some other people who may disagree with me are still in the audience, but kudos to you for coming to an event with somebody who disagrees with you, because ultimately, it really is when we stop talking that bad things happen,” Brown said.

Catherine Sherman, a first-year professional writing and philosophy double major, said she came to the event because she felt like students and faculty at Miami University are usually liberal and was curious to see what was meant by the title: “The Feminist Lie.”

Caleb Redenshek, a first-year political science major and member of the College Republicans, said he enjoyed Brown’s speech specifically because she herself is a mother, which gave her credibility.

Andrew Ukburns, a senior mechanical engineering major, said he appreciated that Brown took time out of her personal schedule to come to Miami and give her speech. Brown currently lives in Washington, D.C.

Some students who attended the talk did not align with Brown’s views but found the experience valuable.

Isa Souza, a junior psychology and individualized studies major, said the title of the talk was more incendiary than the actual talk itself.

“I think the right is getting a lot of wrong information about what the left is actually saying or actually standing for, and same thing for the left,” Souza said. “The fact that I expected to hear less things that I would agree with tells me that I’m not hearing all of their discourse … I think these events and actually making the conversation happen is something very important.”

Maelynn Geoppinger, a senior linguistics and French major, said she was surprised by how much she agreed with some of Brown’s points.

“Ironically, I feel like there’s more agreement than there is disagreement on both sides,” Goeppinger said. “I think it’s kind of hopeful, because there were a lot of things I kind of disagreed with, but at the same time, it’s like I could tell it came from, like, very real problems. Everyone has different ways of looking at issues, but we’re all trying to solve it.”

mahones5@miamioh.edu