'Free Speech is not a Good Model': Progressive Professors Group Aggressively Tried Countering Charlie Kirk and TPUSA

Michael Costeines contributed to this article

Two days after Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated during an event on the campus of Utah Valley University, President Donald Trump announced that a suspect was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in connection with the shooting.

Now that there is a suspect in custody, could the alleged shooter have been influenced by anti-Conservative rhetoric that has been propagated on social media, or was he influenced by ideologically-driven college professors in the world of Academia?

According to the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), a group of nationwide progressive-minded college professors, Kirk and his TPUSA organization promoted "many far-right political positions," and that "Members affiliated with TPUSA have regularly engaged in racist, homophobic, and transphobic speech while on campus. TPUSA chartered buses to bring students to the January 6th riot at the Capitol."

The AAUP states that part of its mission is to "communicate the value of academic freedom and institutional autonomy to wide audiences."

Is the TPUSA community part of the "wide audiences?"

Probably not.

But does AAUP support the First Amendment or free speech?

Well...

According to the AAUP's website, "under the First Amendment, free speech is not a good model for understanding academic freedom.

• The First Amendment is premised on an “equality of status in the field of ideas.” All expressions are given equal protection under the law.
• Academic knowledge is premised on an inequality of status between differing ideas. Faculty members routinely reject certain ideas as lesser than others, and train their students to do the same. Without this process of designating certain ideas as less worthy than others, knowledge would not progress.
• Academic freedom does not protect some speech that may be protected by the First Amendment—for example, that which manifests disciplinary incompetence.
• First Amendment rights are focused on the individual.
• Academic freedom rights are regulated by the collective—peers determine what constitutes disciplinary competence.

This ideology in academia that is accused of indoctrinating students is exactly why Kirk started TPUSA.

The Action Report to Counter Charlie Kirk and TPUSA

On October 31, 2024, AAUP Director of the Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom, Trinity College Professor Isaac Kamola, published an action report titled "Responding to Turning Point USA (TPUSA) and Other Provocative Student Groups On Campus," where he outlines TPUSA's efforts to identify professors they deem as being "radical."

The report calls out other conservative-minded individuals who have engaged with Kirk and TPUSA over the years.

"TPUSA also produces campus tours that bring Kirk and other personalities to campus. Chapters can request speakers through the speakers bureau, including TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk, Pizzagate conspiracist Jack Posobiec, Libs of TikTok founder Chaya Raichik, several MAGA Republicans, election denier Mike Lindell, Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe, anti-trans activist Riley Gaines, and dozens of other far-right politicians, media personalities, and online influencers. During spring 2024, TPUSA brought Kyle Rittenhouse—who killed two protestors during a 2020 protest in Kenosha, WI—to several university campuses," stated Kamola in the report.

Kamola's report also outlines how to respond to Kirk and TPUSA. Kamola even went as far as to call the rioting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a "Black Lives Matter protest" and referred to Kyle Rittenhouse as "the killer of two people" and offered educators a sort of "How to" playbook to counter TPUSA.

"Attend and be seen. TPUSA campus events are open to the public, and anyone can register for tickets. At one Georgia campus, for example, protestors attended the event, wearing identifiable dress. They stood with their fists raised, then walked out in mass. When TPUSA brought Kyle Rittenhouse–the killer of two people at a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, WI–to the University of Memphis, students protested by asking pointed questions, causing him to flee the stage."

In addition, Kamola instructs like-minded professors on how to deal with students recording their lectures, slides, and discussions.

Consider including language in your syllabi making clear what permissions are needed to record classes or for sharing any course materials not intended to be public (slides, syllabi, discussion posts, etc.). It can be useful to lean into existing campus policies (such as honor codes), even if they are not designed explicitly to respond to these threats. Likewise, colleges and universities should consider developing clear campus-wide policies, and explain the ways in which unwanted recording threatens to undermine the integrity of intellectual exchange within the classroom.

The AAUP states that one of their  "main elements of academic freedom, is the "freedom to discuss all relevant matters in the classroom," even though they openly promote pressuring students when it comes to recording in the classrooms.

The AAUP and Colleges Across the Country

The AAUP has published information on its website that guides college professors on how to address appearances by Kirk and TPUSA on their respective campuses. Some of those universities in question are in Florida.

The Florida colleges and universities with an AAUP chapter are: Eckerd College, Edward Waters College, Indian River State College, Jacksonville University, State College of Florida, University of Miami, and the University of Tampa.

In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis has targeted schools and professors who have engaged in DEI and the indoctrination of students with "Left Wing" ideologies.

It looks like Gov. DeSantis just got another list of colleges to address.

Eckerd College even has a feminist club on campus.

It's important to note that of the seven schools with AAUP chapters, all but two of these colleges do not receive direct state funding, but do receive funding in the form of student financial aid. As well, all of these colleges receive federal funding.

So, it is fair to say that through the financial aid the state of Florida pays these colleges, Floridians are indirectly paying for the ongoing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices and paying the salaries of progressive-minded professors, some of whom openly express their ideology on campus.

"We support electoral and community engagement and take action for progressive ideals at local, state, and national levels," states the AAUP's University of Miami chapter.

The State College of Florida and Indian River State College are state-funded, are still actively promoting DEI

The AAUP and it's Guidelines for Responding to Kirk and TPUSA on Campus

On the AAPU website, directions and guidance on dealing with Kirk and TPUSA are significant. They offer a"toolkit" to counter the TPUSA narrative.

Along with basic tips such as organizing a space and an agenda, AAUP directs students to set up counter demonstration tables, saying right-wing groups like TPUSA were "baiting opponents and distributing misleading recordings and photos.

They add that TPUSA and other right-wing groups' primary strategy is to attack higher education.

Kirk's presence was once contentious at TPUSA's first event at an Ivy League School, Brown University in Rhode Island, back in 2019. One protestor called Kirk a “racist grifter," while another held up a sign that read "Trans rights are human rights."

Below is an outline of AAUP's description of TPUSA, as well as the rest of its tips for organizing and countering the group.

"Turning Point maintains the Professor Watchlist. It claims that the purpose of the watchlist is to identify professors who "discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propagana in the classroom," but most entries are not about instances of discrimination or propagandizing in the classroom. Many entries on the Professor Watchlist concern faculty members' social media posts or scholarly publications. In a number of instances, listings have led to campaigns of online harassment against faculty members."

On Getting Other Professors to Engage TPUSA

"Don't overthink it. The point of the conversation is to learn about your colleagues and their concerns, to share information, to build relationships on campus, and to recruit interested colleagues to fight targeted harassment of faculty. If you walk away from a conversation knowing more about your colleague than when you started, it went well! If you walk away from a conversation having recruited them to take some small step in your effort, it went very well! If you walk away from the conversation feeling like you did most of the talking, you'll need to adjust your approach. These conversations are about listening and learning about your colleagues."

On Informing Academic Colleagues —What Questions to ask?

"As you may know, the right-wing organization Turning Point USA has been targeting faculty on campuses across the country with their Professor Watchlist. Are you familiar with Turning Point and the Professor Watchlist?"

The Toolkit to Help Counter TPUSA

"Turning Point USA is a right-wing nonprofit with the stated mission “to identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of freedom, free markets, and limited government.”

The Step-by-Step way to Counter TPUSA and Other Campus Reform Groups

• ​Encourage the administration to condemn the targeted harassment and speak out in defense of the academic freedom of the targeted faculty member.
• Although the administration is certainly free to express disapproval of the faculty member’s speech, the administration may need to be reminded that a number of sensationalized reports of faculty members’ speech or online posts have been taken out of context. Reports may not correctly reflect the actual speech.
• Targeted faculty members and administrators at targeted institutions should contact the national AAUP at [email protected] for advice. Targeted faculty members should contact the national AAUP especially if the administration has taken action against them.

Kirk, who founded Turning Point USA in 2012, is widely known for debating leftist ideology on college campuses, including with professors.

Below is one debate with Kirk and a person described as a college history professor who tries to compare President Donald Trump's rise to power to the rise of Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler.