Faith and scholarship at CU Boulder

Host: All right, let’s talk to Matthew Brady, Turning Point USA faculty advisor at the University of Colorado. It’s been a hard day for many of us today. I don’t want to revisit it. I won’t go back and look at my texts. It’s just hard. Because I believe that Charlie Kirk was going to be the president of the United States. I think he was our generation’s greatest evangelist, political leader, organizer, and you saw it in his funeral. Millions of people heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. Look at the political figures, everyone from the president to Elon Musk. Marco Rubio got up and proclaimed the gospel. What a movement that was. And I’m intrigued to see how things are on college campuses a year after all this, particularly the University of Colorado. He’s one of the bravest professors I know there. Matthew Brady joins us now. Good morning, Matthew. Thanks for joining the Jeff and Bill Show.

Matt Brady: Good morning. Hey Jeff. Hey Bill. Thanks for honoring Charlie today.

Host: Absolutely. And thank you for taking on the role of being a faculty advisor. Why did you decide to do that? Keep your head down, Matthew. Teach, collect a paycheck, grade papers. Why step up to be a faculty advisor at the University of Colorado for Turning Point?

Matt Brady: Well, I wanted to get involved, which was the call to action that Charlie gave everyone. What’s the next step you can take in your life to make a difference? At CU, we have the freedom to support causes we believe in. For me, that’s Turning Point.

Host: Why Turning Point? What is it particularly about Charlie and about the organization itself that drew you to him?

Matt Brady: Well, Charlie was a transformational leader. He lived out his faith with relentless discipline. He built scalable systems, something that I teach. He spoke with uncompromising conviction on college campuses across the country. He inspired a generation to step up.

Host: Now, Matthew Brady, the faculty advisor at CU for Turning Point USA, I have to ask this a little bit tongue-in-cheek. How do your colleagues respond and react to you being the faculty advisor for TPUSA? Do you have to sit all alone at the lunch table in the faculty lunchroom? Does nobody come and sit with you? What’s it like?

Matt Brady: I have tremendous support from my colleagues. The notion of academic pursuit, of curiosity, of openness to other perspectives, of seeking truth, I think, is held in great esteem. And I’ve had a wonderful experience. I’m an adjunct professor, so I conduct a business outside of CU, and I actually teach a variety of topics that I use in my company and in companies that I’ve started, scaled and sold in the past. And I want all of my students to benefit. I want all of the students on CU’s campus to benefit from the engagement with the faculty and the staff. And I see very collegial relations. So, plenty of folks at the lunch table, partly because I eat at the buffet.

Host: Oh, that is good. That’s Matthew Brady joining us. Matthew is the Turning Point USA faculty advisor at the University of Colorado. I’m glad to hear that. I do think that, generally, among some professors there’s this notion of academic freedom and the ability to ask questions. I do think, though, that some divisions, less business-oriented, less engineering, more the humanities, tend to be a little more doctrinaire in how they treat their colleagues. But I’m glad to hear at least a little bit of positive news, because we’ve been hearing from Turning Point students across the state, at CSU, UCCS and ACC, who have faced hostility on campus. Do you find that your students who are involved with Turning Point are treated with respect and dignity by their peers on the campus of the University of Colorado?

Matt Brady: It’s a good question. As a faculty member, I see it in two ways at once. There is a small, loud group trying to make students feel isolated, maybe purely because they are conservative or Christian. Behind that, though, I have experienced firsthand many, many students, parents and local community members who want to foster fearless thinkers. They are the people who show up, who host events, and most importantly, who pray.

Host: That’s good reflection from Matthew Brady, Turning Point USA faculty advisor at the University of Colorado. Matthew, do you think things have changed in the last year across this country? Charlie entered the university system. I find this fascinating. Here’s a guy who never went to college, but found that the place where indoctrination was taking place was the university system. When I look broadly at what’s happening at our government-run schools here in Colorado, I think they’re producing exactly what they intend to produce, which are people who embrace socialism but don’t necessarily know how to read and write. And Charlie saw that the crux of the challenge we were facing as Americans was coming out of the university system. So my question to you is multifaceted. How do conservatives approach the university system the way Charlie did? Charlie walked right in there, where the faculty is overwhelmingly progressive, the student body is overwhelmingly progressive, the board of trustees is typically overwhelmingly progressive, and the curriculum is overwhelmingly progressive, and he sought to engage it directly. And he died doing so. I think that proves my point about how hostile these places can be. So from your perspective, Matthew Brady, how do conservatives engage the university system, speak truth into it, and, more importantly, prepare students to be free thinkers and to embrace a Christian conservative worldview in such a hostile environment? I know I threw a lot at you, but I’ll let you talk.

Matt Brady: Well, thanks for that. I understand that there’s a wide variety of sentiments, and I sympathize with those. My take is to get involved. I think you take a step forward, toward chaos, toward need, toward loneliness, toward brokenness, and toward an opportunity to serve, listen, be loving and bring light. You know, I think about CU telling students, in one of its slogans, “Be Boulder.” That freedom already exists for students, including conservatives and Christians, whether it’s Turning Point for open civic debate, on-campus resources, or local churches and parishes. Students don’t have to compromise. They can be serious scholars, they can be serious believers at the same time. And that’s my hope in playing some small part in fostering that dialogue and that debate, and ultimately a pursuit of truth.

Host: Matthew, I think you’re doing a great job, and you’re helping us wrap the show on a bit of optimism.

Host: Yes, you are. I was resigned to the fact that the whole thing is messed up and not going to work. And here you have somebody who’s reminding students and faculty and his peers in the university system to embrace openness, dialogue and debate, and to not compromise your values at a place that’s known to be pretty liberal in some cases. Wasn’t CU the biggest party school in the ’90s? Here you have a little bit of hope. And my message to the administrators and to the Board of Regents: Matthew Brady is a gem for you all to hold on to, because I think he’s one of the best out there when it comes to embracing openness, dialogue, commitment to your convictions, and getting a quality degree that prepares you well for the rest of your life.

Host: Matthew Brady, I sure appreciate your time today. Final question for you. I’m going to throw this to Billy, because Billy asked this better than anybody else. Was there a moment with Charlie, or watching Charlie, that became the tipping point, or the turning point, pun intended, for you to be a part of Turning Point USA?

Matt Brady: That’s a very personal question for each of us to think through. He touched so many lives. As I’ve thought about Charlie’s life, cut short, there was something about the way that people felt they knew him that was out of scale with how well they actually knew him. People who had only seen him from afar felt like they knew him well. People who knew him well felt like he was a brother, a son. He had an effect that I can only attribute, ultimately, to his faith, that he was working toward something bigger than himself, something I feel all of us inherently have a desire to do. He was a remarkable individual. I’m very thankful to have had the opportunity to even have heard him speak, and to see the impact that he has had and will have for some time to come.

Host: Matthew, you’re continuing that legacy. I sure appreciate your courage. Thanks for joining us today.

Matt Brady: Thank you. God bless you both.

Host: Matthew Brady, Turning Point USA faculty advisor at the University of Colorado, showing that those kids are being led well by their faculty advisors up there.