STURGE: Higher ed has normalized political violence
The left on college campuses has normalized violence against conservatives, and that mindset has metastasized to poison the next generation.
Following the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, left-wing educators are openly mocking and celebrating his murder online.
A University of Pennsylvania professor called Charlie the “head of Trump’s Hitler youth.” A University of South Dakota professor smeared Kirk as a “hate spreading Nazi.” An Ohio State University medical center respiratory therapist called Charlie a “waste of oxygen” and said he might “be worth something to the vultures.”
The list goes on and on.
With this kind of rhetoric pervasive on campus, it’s no wonder Gen Z is desensitized to political violence.
For years, higher education has cultivated a toxic culture that excuses and rationalizes violence against conservatives to the point that the rhetoric seemingly glorifies such action. Professors who cheer bloodshed are not fringe; they’re influential authority figures teaching the next generation of leaders that violence is acceptable.
What’s worse, that toxic mindset has metastasized into an “assassination culture” poisoning the next generation.
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A recent Wall Street Journal op-ed revealed that only 58% of Gen Z are willing to condemn political violence. In other words, more than 40% are okay with it. When professors normalize celebrating assassinations, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that some students view political murder as legitimate activism.
The good news is that some universities are holding radical faculty accountable.
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville fired a professor who said Charlie’s children are “better off” without him and called Erika Kirk “sick” for marrying him. Belmont University fired a professor for calling Kirk an “amplifier of fascism.” The University of Miami fired a neurologist, Florida Atlantic University placed a professor on leave, and Clemson University fired an employee while investigating two others for celebrating Kirk’s death.
Freedom of speech does not mean blanket freedom from consequences. Professors and employees who openly celebrate assassinations aren’t martyrs for free expression; they’re violating professional codes of conduct.
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These vile remarks do not shock me. At Campus Reform, I’ve seen this pattern before.
When Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, radical professors were outraged only because he failed. A Morgan State University professor likened Trump to Hitler and lamented the missed opportunity. A University of Kansas professor once called for men to be shot if they refused to vote for a female president.
These outbursts are not intellectual debate; they’re dangerous and divisive rhetoric that must be taken seriously. Professors are entrusted to mold the next generation of leaders. Instead, some are molding a generation of radicals who see bloodshed as activism.
The FBI confirmed that Charlie Kirk’s killer was indoctrinated with radical leftist ideology. That should be a wake-up call: ideas aren’t harmless when language weaponized in classrooms to create hateful calls to action. They can, and do, poison young minds, radicalize students, and lead to real-world violence.
While some schools took action, others are dragging their feet. The University of Alabama, the University of North Carolina Charlotte, and the University of Michigan still employ faculty members who glorified or dismissed Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Universities must choose: be centers of learning or be centers of hate. They can’t be both.
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Editorials and op-eds reflect the opinion of the authors and not necessarily that of Campus Reform or the Leadership Institute.
