The Campus Victory Project (CVP) is the primary outreach of America’s Turning Point, a right-of-center advocacy organization that aims to educate college-aged students about the principles and importance of free markets, fiscal responsibility, and capitalism. ¹ CVP provides leadership development and training programming to the next generation of American leaders on college campuses across the U.S. ²

America’s Turning Point is funded by Turning Point USA (TPUSA), a right-of-center student organization founded by the late Charlie Kirk to educate students about the importance of free markets, limited government, and fiscal responsibility. TPUSA claims to have a presence on over 3,500 campuses in the United States. ³

Activities

The Campus Victory Project claims to support the next generation of American leaders through its leadership development and training programming. CVP encourages and empowers its students to help shape culture, the marketplace, and society through positive change that starts on college campuses. ²

CVP provides aspiring leaders with grants to aid in developing leadership opportunities on campus and resources that include developmental networks, advising sessions, and one-on-one meetings with its staff. ⁴ In 2023, $182,482 in grant money was provided to 133 students.  ⁵

America’s Turning Point states that the CVP trained more than 700 student leaders, engaged 5,601 students at hundreds of colleges throughout the U.S., and hosted five leadership training conferences in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024.  ¹

Controversy

Campus Victory Project has been accused of attempting to influence student government elections at U.S. colleges. In 2023, a former member of Sacramento State’s Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) claimed that a representative of CVP attempted to contact ASI members. Additionally, ASI’s then-president claimed they encountered someone from CVP posing as a Sacramento State student. ⁶

In early 2026, a student government candidate at Iowa State University (ISU) claimed during a debate that CVP was attempting to influence student government elections across the country, including ISU. The candidate also claimed that ISU’s student government president, Colby Brandt, worked for the CVP. ⁷ Following these accusations, Brandt was impeached, pending removal by the decision of the ISU Student Government Supreme Court. Allegations against Brandt include that he accepted a recruiting role with the CVP, attempted to recruit other students while serving as president, and attended a paid political retreat. ⁸

ISU also shared a leaked brochure from the CVP, which outlines its plan to create a “structure for winning back our universities” from the control of the political left. CVP claims that U.S. learning institutions have been controlled by those promoting anti-capitalist, antisemitic, anti-American, and pro-globalist ideals. The brochure states that the CVP’s “primary goal is to commandeer the top office of Student Body President at each of the most recognizable and influential American universities,” and boasted 54 student body president wins. ⁹

Funding

The Campus Victory Project is funded by its parent organization, America’s Turning Point, which is funded by Turning Point USA (TPUSA). In 2023, TPUSA contributed over $8.56 million to America’s Turning Point. ¹⁰

CVP is the primary expense of America’s Turning Point, accounting for over $7.8 million of its spending in 2023,  ¹ including $182,482 in grant money for 133 students.  ⁵

People

Ethan Estis is the policy advisor of Campus Victory Project and the chair of the board of the Louisiana Young Republicans Federation. ¹¹

Emily Sullivan is an executive program representative at CVP. ¹²

Nick VandenNieuwenhof is a former executive national director of CVP. ¹³ VandenNieuwenhof is the executive director of the Lincoln Institute. ¹⁴

END MATTER

Parent Organization

America’s Turning Point (ATP) (nonprofit)

1. America’s Turning Point Inc, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2023, Part III, Line 4a.
2. “About Us.” Campus Victory Project. Accessed March 9, 2026. https://www.campusvictory.com/aboutus.
3. “Home.” Turning Point USA. Accessed March 9, 2026. https://tpusa.com/.
4. “What We Do.” Campus Victory Project. Accessed March 9, 2026. https://www.campusvictory.com/whatwedo.
5. America’s Turning Point Inc, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2023, Schedule I, Part III.
6. Hudson, Gavin and Woodward, Chris. “Student representatives say conservative organization attempting to influence Sac State ASI elections.” The State Hornet, March 28, 2023. Accessed March 16, 2026. https://statehornet.com/2023/03/campus-victory-project-student-elections/.
7. Luhmann, Kadin. “VP candidate alleges outside interference in StuGov debate.” Iowa State Daily, February 13, 2026. Accessed March 16, 2026. https://iowastatedaily.com/331033/news/vp-candidate-alleges-outside-interference-in-isu-stugov-debate/.
8. “Iowa State University student government president impeached.” KCCI, February 19, 2026. Accessed March 16, 2026. https://www.kcci.com/article/iowa-state-university-student-government-president-impeached/70425017.
9. “Campus Victory Project.” Document Cloud. Accessed March 16, 2026. https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/4433312/Turning-Point.pdf.
10. Turning Point USA, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2023, Schedule I, Part II.
11. “Executive Board.” Louisiana Young Republican Federation. Accessed March 9, 2026. https://www.louisianayr.com/executive-board.
12. https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilysullivan2001/.
13. “About.” Fellowship Associates. Accessed March 9, 2026. https://thefellowshipassociates.com/about.
14. “Nick VandenNieuwenhof.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 9, 2026. https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-vandennieuwenhof-4602b860/.