This and that: On questions of speech, campus and beyond
Purdue quiet as attorney general joins warning about ‘assassin’s veto’ on campus for conservative speakers. Former employee sues Ball State over firing after comments about Charlie Kirk. And more.
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ON QUESTIONS OF SPEECH, CAMPUS AND BEYOND …
ROKITA, OTHER STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL WARN CAMPUSES: A group of attorneys general from 17 states – including Indiana’s Todd Rokita – skipped any subtlety when they called on colleges and universities to keep their campuses spaces for free speech in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s murder, urging them, as they wrote, “to say no to the Assassin’s Veto.”
In a letter sent to campuses late last week, they warned campuses that they’d be watching and ready to investigate cases of security charges that effectively keep conservative student groups from hosting speakers and events.
“Unfortunately, we have heard troubling reports that some university officials are using the murder of Charlie Kirk as a justification to shut down speech on campus,” they wrote in a two-page letter. “While considering safety concerns, it is critical that universities are not imposing what would effectively be a tax on free speech. Particularly at this moment, when free speech itself was attacked, our universities must show through their actions that they will defend free speech and resist the ‘Assassin’s Veto.’ You have an obligation to protect free speech — you must not use the burden of protecting free speech to prevent free speech.”
The letter says campuses would be watched to confirm that facility use and security fees “are viewpoint neutral.”
Purdue officials haven’t responded formally to questions about what, if any, security measures might change after Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed Sept. 10 while holding one of his “American Comeback Tour” debates at Utah Valley University. Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old Utah man accused of firing the shot from a perch on a Utah Valley University building rooftop, was charged last week.
The open-air campus scene and crowds were similar in Orem, Utah, as it was when Kirk brought the tour to the lawn outside Krach Leadership Center at Purdue in April.
Purdue also did not immediately respond Monday about how security fees, if any, are set for high-profile visitors – including for the Turning Point USA event in April – or to Rokita’s and his counterparts’ implication that some speakers or groups are discouraged from coming to campus or are charged more for security.
Rokita, in a Facebook post over the weekend, focused on Indiana University, noting the university’s recent showing near the bottom of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s annual college free speech rankings and that Turning Point USA had an event scheduled in October at the Bloomington campus before Kirk’s murder.
Not mentioned in Rokita’s take about IU was a bit of a twist in Bloomington, highlighted in this account from WFIU’s Bente Bouthier, raising the fact that university officials who had cleared the upcoming Turning Point USA event also had decided to be cautious when canceling a gallery exhibit last year by an IU alum and Palestinian artist. (For that story, see: “IU said Palestinian art exhibit was unsafe, but Charlie Kirk events were fine.”)
Still, Rokita, who has been aggressive in policing speech and speech policies since Kirk’s murder (see below), posted: “Campuses must remain safe havens for robust debate and open dialogue. Using Kirk’s murder to justify suppressing conservative speech under the guise of safety is unacceptable and unconstitutional.”
BALL STATE EMPLOYEE SUES OVER FIRING FOR SOCIAL MEDIA POST ABOUT KIRK: A Ball State University employee who says a post she made about Charlie Kirk in a private mode on Facebook – one that was screenshot and shared widely, including by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita – shouldn’t have been grounds for her firing, according to a federal lawsuit filed Monday.
Suzanne Swierc, who had been Ball State's director of health promotion and advocacy, was let go Sept. 17 after the university contended her comments after Kirk was murdered "inconsistent with the distinctive nature and trust" of her position. The university had leaned on provisions that it had a right to fire an employee after determining whether an employee's speech disrupts the workplace and if they spoke on a matter of public concern. The university had considered Swierc’s the fallout from statements a “significant disruption” to university operations. According to the lawsuit, a termination letter was sign by Ball State President Geoffrey Mearns.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Indiana’s Southern District and backed by ACLU of Indiana contends Ball State’s actions were unconstitutional.
“People do not forfeit their First Amendment rights when they are hired by government institutions,” Stevie Pactor, senior staff attorney with ACLU of Indiana, said in a prepared statement. “Public employees are free to speak on matters of public concern, so long as they are speaking as private citizens. Swierc’s Facebook post clearly meets these criteria, and her termination was unconstitutional.”
Swierc had become a centerpiece of efforts by Rokita and others on social media and at the attorney general’s “Eyes on Education” portal to highlight comments by educators and public officials who they considered to be celebrating or glorifying Kirk’s death.
The complaint filed in federal court argued that Swierc was using a private setting on Facebook, using a private device from home on Sept. 10, when she wrote that Kirk’s “death is a tragedy” and that she “can and do pray for his soul.” She posted that “Charlie Kirk’s death is a reflection of the violence, fear and hatred he sowed. It does not excuse his death, AND it’s a sad truth.”
The lawsuit contends that she doesn’t know who took a screenshot of her post and shared it more widely, including having it land on Rokita’s portal and social media feeds. The complaint contends that after her contact information was shared, she received threats, including that she “should ‘get what Charlie Kirk got.’”
After Ball State announced Swierc had been terminated, Rokita posted: “BSU made the right decision in firing her. Hope her vile comments were worth it.”
As of Monday, Rokita’s portal had examples filed involving employees from 18 K-12 school districts or universities. No cases were listed about Purdue’s West Lafayette campus or other local schools. Gov. Mike Braun also warned last week that that teachers who post online in celebration of political violence could face suspension or have their licenses revoked.
IN A RELATED ITEM …: Sen. Todd Young, an Indiana Republican, gave a social media credits to Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican who late last week criticized FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for mafia-like tactics by threatening broadcast licenses leading up to ABC’s suspension of late night host Jimmy Kimmel.
For context on what Cruz said – which got Young into giving a shoutout – this is from an account from New York Times reporter Megan Mineiro:
“The remarks from Cruz, who is closely aligned with the president and one of the most conservative members of the Senate, were the latest evidence that some on the right are deeply uncomfortable with their fellow Republicans’ efforts to clamp down on free speech by their political adversaries following Mr. Kirk’s death.
“Mr. Cruz said Mr. Kimmel had been ‘lying’ in the monologue that prompted ABC to pull his show, in which the comedian said that conservatives had been trying to portray Mr. Kirk’s assassin as ‘anything other than one of them.’ But the senator also took Mr. Carr to task for suggesting on a right-wing podcast that if media companies did not shut down such statements, the federal government would step in do so.
“‘He says, “We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way.” Mr. Cruz said on his podcast ‘Verdict with Ted Cruz,’ quoting Mr. Carr verbatim. ‘And I’ve got to say, that’s right out of Goodfellas. That’s right out of a mafioso coming into a bar going, ‘Nice bar you have here, it’d be a shame if something happened to it.’”
“He went on to warn that a crackdown on speech on the left by the Trump administration would come back to bite conservatives the next time Democrats hold the White House.
“‘They will silence us,’ Mr. Cruz said. ‘They will use this power, and they will use it ruthlessly. And that is dangerous.’”
For the rest: “Cruz Likens F.C.C. Chair’s ‘Threat’ to That of a Mafia Boss.”
MEANWHILE, AT ABC …: The network announced Monday that Jimmy Kimmel would return to his late night slot Tuesday, after nearly a week off the air. Disney, the parent company for ABC, issued this statement: “Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.” Here’s more, via the New York Times: “Jimmy Kimmel’s Show to Return to ABC on Tuesday Night. The network removal of Mr. Kimmel’s show last week almost immediately morphed into a flashpoint for free speech in America.”
THIS AND THAT …
PURDUE’S CRADLE OF ASTRONAUTS GROWS BY TWO: Two Purdue grads on Monday were named as part of NASA’s 2025 class of astronaut candidates, bumping the university’s Cradle of Astronauts to 30. Adam Fuhrmann and Yuri Kubo were among 10 astronaut candidates chosen from 8,000 applicants and announced by NASA Monday.
From their bios, via NASA and Purdue:
Adam Fuhrmann, 35, is a major in the U.S. Air Force and from Leesburg, Virginia. He has accumulated more than 2,100 flight hours in 27 aircraft, including the F-16 and F-35. He earned a master’s degree in systems engineering from Purdue, and also holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a master’s degree in flight test engineering from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. Fuhrmann served as the director of operations for an Air Force flight test unit.
Yuri Kubo, 40, is from Columbus, Indiana. He has two degrees from Purdue, including a bachelor’s in electrical engineering in 2008 and a master’s in electrical and computer engineering in 2015. He spent 12 years working at SpaceX, including as launch director for Falcon 9 rocket launches, director of avionics for the Starshield program and director of Ground Segment.
The 10 candidates presented Monday will go through two years of training before being ready as flight-eligible astronauts.
LATE-NIGHT CONSTRUCTION DOWNTOWN: Downtown residents and businesses can expect some noise early Thursday morning. The construction site of the John Purdue Block development, along Second Street between South and Columbia streets, is scheduled for a concrete pour starting at 1 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, according to the city of Lafayette. Meyer Najem, the developer, said the timing is due to a high volume of construction projects in the area for IMI, the concrete supplier.
WANTED: DE-TRASH THE WABASH VOLUNTEERS: Organizers for the fall De-Trash the Wabash, scheduled for Oct. 18, are looking for volunteers to help with the one-day clean-up day along a nine-mile stretch of the Wabash River. Volunteers will check in at 9 a.m. that day at the Riverside Skating Rink in West Lafayette’s Tapawingo Park to get supplies and an assigned location to collect trash. A pizza lunch will follow for volunteers. To register, go to https://tinyurl.com/25detrash. De-Trash the Wabash is organized by the Tippecanoe County Partnership for Water Quality, Wabash River Enhancement Corporation, Tippecanoe County Solid Waste Management District and Wabash Riverkeeper Network.
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From Rokita: "Campuses must remain safe havens for robust debate and open dialogue. " Riiiight. AND he celebrated a person getting fired for a perfectly neutral private social media post. Talking out of two sides of his mouth. Again.
I'm sure Todd Rokita will have no problem with pro-Palestine speakers on campus, right?