Image credit: Ricardo Tomás | The New York Times
Imagine being asked to work with an organization whose goals you strongly oppose. That’s what happened to Nicholas Creel, a professor of business law at Georgia College & State University, when a student asked him to be the adviser for their college’s chapter of Turning Point USA. It was not something he would have thought to do, but his “dedication to the principles of free speech” led him to see it as a request he could not turn down. So, he said yes, “despite disagreeing with virtually every position the organization holds.” Read on to find out how it all turned out, in a 2025 piece he wrote for the New York Times. You may be surprised.
Read it here.
EXPLORE, REFLECT, SPEAK UP.
1. Nicholas Creel wrote this piece as a narrative, telling about what happened when he agreed to serve as the adviser for his college’s Turning Point USA chapter. But it’s a story with a point. What would you say his main point is, and how can you tell? Point to places in the text where he makes his point clear, and then to places where he provides evidence for his argument.
2. Creel praises one of the Turning Point students for demonstrating that it’s possible “to hold strong convictions while still having respectful conversations” with people who have different ideas. How well does he do that himself in this essay? Does he practice what he preaches? Reread the essay, paying attention both to what he says and the way he says it. How does he go about demonstrating respect and fair-mindedness? Provide specific examples from his text.
3. LET’S TALK. Creel offers his experience with two Turning Point students as examples of what’s possible when people are “sincerely interested in constructive dialogue” and in “grappling with ideas” that challenge their own. Try it! Think of a contentious issue in your town or on your campus, and get together with a classmate to talk about it. Ideally, you’ll each have a different perspective, but if not, try pretending that you do. The goal is not to change minds but to listen carefully and be genuinely interested in what they say and “grapple” with ideas that differ from yours—and then to see where it takes you.
4. AND NOW WRITE. We all know people whose viewpoints differ from ours and who can be difficult to talk to as a result. How have you dealt with such people in the past, and how has that worked out? Has Creel’s essay given you some new ideas to try? Write a short narrative about a difficult conversation from your past—what you said, what the other person said, where it ended up—and then add an additional paragraph about what you learned from Creel’s experience and how you’d approach such a conversation next time.
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