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EXCLUSIVE: More faculty members on college campuses who have celebrated the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk should be penalized, according to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.
McMahon’s comments come as tributes to Kirk on campuses have been defaced, and as higher education institutions have dropped employees for controversial statements regarding Kirk’s death.
“I’ve seen some of those college presidents who have fired or suspended teachers or other faculty members that have spoken out really incredibly poorly and celebrated Charlie’s death — I would like to see more of that, quite frankly,” McMahon told Fox News Digital Thursday in Washington at the Reagan Institute Summit on Education.
58 HOUSE DEMS VOTE AGAINST RESOLUTION HONORING ‘LIFE AND LEGACY’ OF CHARLIE KIRK
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon speaks at the Reagan Institute Summit on Education in Washington Sept. 18, 2025. (Connor McLaren/The Reagan Institute)
For example, Fox News Digital first reported that an administrator at George Washington University is no longer employed by the school after posting on social media “no thoughts, no prayers” following Kirk’s death.
Likewise, Fox News Digital reported that students at the University of North Carolina Wilmington painted over a rock Tuesday that Kirk supporters had crafted to honor his memory. The rock on campus is typically painted to promote various movements or causes on campus, Reagan Faulkner, president of UNCW’s chapter of College Republicans, told Fox News Digital.
“That is really, in and of itself, is a crime of personal integrity, when those kinds of things happen,” McMahon said about ruined tributes to Kirk on campuses.
Kirk, 31, was killed after suffering a gunshot wound in the neck during his “American Comeback Tour” at Utah Valley University Sept. 10. The shooting suspect, Tyler Robinson, was charged Monday with aggravated murder, along with other charges.
