\n<\/p>\n
Many college presidents began to refrain from statements on current events in the aftermath of the deadly Oct.\u00a07, 2023, terrorist attacks by Hamas and Israel\u2019s response, which has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians and widespread campus protests.<\/p>\n
Such statements were often sharply criticized by university communities for failing to adequately condemn Hamas as terrorists, or to recognize the suffering of the Palestinian people\u2014or both\u2014prompting multiple presidents to apologize for their remarks and\/or refrain from future comments.<\/p>\n
Multiple universities adopted institutional neutrality policies amid the fallout, essentially agreeing to refrain from making statements on political matters and to show more restraint, generally, on issuing statements on current events.<\/p>\n
But following the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at an event at Utah Valley University last week, statements are flowing as institutions and presidents denounce political violence, with some leaders arguing this moment requires an exception to institutional neutrality.<\/p>\n
The University of Wyoming adopted institutional neutrality in late 2023. <\/p>\n
But last week, President Ed Seidel released a statement \u201cexpressing disgust, outrage and sadness at this apparent politically motivated attack\u201d and noted his sympathy for Kirk\u2019s family.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the midst of this tragedy, it is important that we reaffirm the right of all to express their views freely, especially on college campuses, as Mr. Kirk did recently at UW. Political violence is never warranted, and we reaffirm our commitment to freedom of expression and respectful discourse on our campus\u2014and the institutional neutrality that is needed to support it,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
Wyoming also held a moment of silence for Kirk before its football game on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Seidel has not issued remarks on other incidents of political violence, such as the June murder of Melissa Hortman, the former Democratic speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, along with her husband. Minnesota governor Tim Walz and others condemned the act as a political assassination.<\/p>\n
University of Wyoming spokesperson Chad Baldwin told Inside Higher Ed<\/em> by email that the killing of Kirk, who spoke at UW in April, prompted a statement due to several factors, including that Turning Point USA\u2014the student organization Kirk founded\u2014has an active chapter at UW.<\/p>\n \u201cA statement was made for this case and not others for reasons that include: proximity to us; the fact that Mr. Kirk had been here recently; the impact on members of a recognized student organization on our campus; and the fact that the killing took place on a college campus,\u201d Baldwin wrote.<\/p>\n Middlebury College president Ian Baucom also issued a statement following Kirk\u2019s death in which he condemned his killing as \u201can evil act\u201d and pledged to defend academic freedom.<\/p>\n \u201cMost simply put: Middlebury is\u2014and always will be\u2014for academic freedom,\u201d Baucom wrote last week. \u201cWe are for the academic freedom of everyone. We cannot thrive without that commitment, nor can our democracy. Those are simple truths to state. They take all our conviction and hard work to live. In these difficult days, let\u2019s commit to living them together.\u201d<\/p>\n Although Middlebury does not have an institutional neutrality policy and Baucom emphasized he was speaking in his personal capacity, he said that he takes \u201cbroad guidance from the University of Chicago\u2019s Kalven principles,\u201d which essentially serve as the bedrock for such policies. But he also noted that the Kalven Report concluded that universities will need to defend their interests and values when \u201cinstances will arise\u201d that threaten institutional missions and free inquiry.<\/p>\n \u201cYesterday, tragically, was such a day and such a time, and I feel my obligation to speak,\u201d Baucom wrote.<\/p>\n Middlebury College did not respond to a request for comment from Inside Higher Ed<\/em>.<\/p>\n Multiple institutions have issued statements about Kirk\u2019s killing while also announcing disciplinary actions taken against faculty, staff and students for appearing to either celebrate or downplay his death online. Some were fired for quoting Kirk\u2019s own incendiary remarks as Republican politicians, including some top officials, pressured university leaders to dole out consequences to students and employees, raising concerns about a conservative crackdown on free speech on campuses and broadly.<\/p>\n Austin Peay State University, for example, fired Professor Darren Michael after he reportedly shared a screenshot of a news article in which Kirk argued gun deaths were \u201cworth it\u201d to preserve Second Amendment rights. Multiple GOP lawmakers called for APSU to fire Michael over the post. <\/p>\n \u201cA faculty member of Austin Peay State University reshared a post on social media that was insensitive, disrespectful and interpreted by many as propagating justification for unlawful death. Such actions do not align with Austin Peay\u2019s commitment to mutual respect and human dignity. The university deems these actions unacceptable and has terminated the faculty member,\u201d APSU president Mike Licari wrote in a statement.<\/p>\n Clemson University has issued several statements about Kirk\u2019s death in relation to \u201cdeeply inappropriate remarks made on social media\u201d by employees, two of whom have now been fired. In the first of several statements, made Friday before the two employees were fired, Clemson officials seemed to argue that employees do not have the full protection of the First Amendment. <\/p>\n (Clemson did not respond to requests for comment from Inside Higher Ed<\/em>.)<\/p>\n \u201cWe stand firmly on the principles of the U.S. Constitution, including the protection of free speech,\u201d university officials wrote in a statement posted to social media last week. \u201cHowever, that right does not extend to speech that incites harm or undermines the dignity of others.\u201d<\/p>\n Legal experts, however, have noted that claim is counterfactual. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s completely wrong,\u201d Zach Greenberg, a First Amendment attorney at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told Inside Higher Ed<\/em>. \u201cThe First Amendment absolutely protects your right to undermine the dignity of others. We have free speech so we can talk about things that many people believe are offensive, controversial and even hateful.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that while there is a \u201cnarrow category of unprotected speech,\u201d it \u201chas to cause imminent lawless action.\u201d For example, if a speaker called to burn down a building during a riot and the structure was actually lit on fire, that would be actionable. But only true threats are punishable.<\/p>\n \u201cDiscussing political ideas and viewpoints doesn\u2019t quite cut it. We need breathing room for political hyperbole and puffery and these bombastic statements about political figures,\u201d Greenberg said.<\/p>\n While Greenberg said Clemson\u2019s statement was rare, colleges punishing employees for their speech is not. He noted that FIRE is currently receiving tips on \u201cdozens of cases\u201d every day.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re in the cancel culture part of the tragedy cycle,\u201d Greenberg said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many college presidents began to refrain from statements on current events in the aftermath of the deadly Oct.\u00a07, 2023, terrorist attacks by Hamas and Israel\u2019s response, which has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians and widespread campus protests. Such statements were often sharply criticized by university communities for failing to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[535,12585,807,4105,13526,3094],"class_list":{"0":"post-22056","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-college","9":"tag-kirks","10":"tag-leaders","11":"tag-prompts","12":"tag-slaying","13":"tag-speak"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Condemning Incivility<\/h2>\n