The assassination of Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and outspoken Christian, comes as a record share of U.S. college students now say violence is an acceptable response to speech with which they disagree.

The sixth annual College Free Speech Rankings, released by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and survey partner College Pulse, showed that a growing number of students nationwide view violence as an acceptable response to speech, at least in some circumstances.

The survey of 68,510 college students at 257 universities nationwide found that 34 percent now say using violence to stop someone from speaking on campus is acceptable, at least in rare cases. That is an increase of 10 percentage points over the last four years.

“More students than ever think violence and chaos are acceptable alternatives to peaceful protest,” FIRE Chief Research Advisor Sean Stevens said in a release, issued before Kirk’s murder. “This finding cuts across partisan lines. It is not a liberal or conservative problem—it’s an American problem. Students see speech that they oppose as threatening, and their overblown response contributes to a volatile political climate.”

Three Oklahoma universities were included in the survey. The share of students voicing support for violence at the University of Oklahoma was well above the national average, while the share supporting violence at Oklahoma State University and the University of Tulsa was below the national average, with Tulsa far below the national norm.

At the University of Oklahoma, 42 percent of survey respondents said using violence to stop someone from speaking on campus is acceptable, at least in rare cases. The survey found there are roughly 1.84 liberal students for every one conservative student at OU.

At Oklahoma State University, 29 percent of surveyed students said violence was an acceptable way to stop speech, at least in some situations. There are roughly 1.04 liberal students for every one conservative student at OSU.

At the University of Tulsa, the survey showed 22 percent of students said violence was an acceptable response to speech. The university has 1.68 liberal students for every one conservative student.

Kirk, a founder of Turning Point USA, was shot by an assassin at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. The event was a public forum in which Kirk was freely debating with college students and local citizens on a wide range of issues, a practice for which he had become nationally known.

Kirk’s murder prompted an outpouring of grief from both national and state leaders.

President Donald Trump, who narrowly survived an assassination attempt in 2024, spoke about the killing in a national address, saying Kirk was “a patriot who devoted his life to the cause of open debate and the country that he loved so much, the United States of America.”

“This is a dark moment for America,” Trump said. “Charlie Kirk traveled the nation, joyfully engaging with everyone interested in good-faith debate. His mission was to bring young people into the political process, which he did better than anybody, ever, to share his love of country and to spread the simple words of common sense. On campuses nationwide, he championed his ideas with courage, logic, humor, and grace.

“It’s long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree, day after day, year after year, in the most hateful and despicable way possible,” Trump continued. “For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.”

Many of Kirk’s allies noted that he was a champion of free speech and respectful debate.

In a post on X, Vice President J.D. Vance wrote, “If you actually watch Charlie’s events—as opposed to the fake summaries—they are one of the few places with open and honest dialogue between left and right. He would answer any question and talk to everyone.”

Donald Trump Jr. mourned Kirk’s death in a post on X, writing, “Charlie was never a threat to anyone. He was civil, he was kind, he listened and responded with respect. The only ‘threat’ he ever posed was that he was incredibly effective.”

In Oklahoma, Gov. Kevin Stitt called Kirk “a great American.”

“The world will be a darker place without him here,” Stitt wrote.

Oklahoma Senate Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, said, “The assassination of Charlie Kirk is horrific and heartbreaking. Civil discourse should always be welcome. Being murdered for your beliefs is not. Kirk himself said it best when he said, ‘What we as a culture have to get back to is being able to have a reasonable disagreement where violence is not an option.’ Charlie was a tireless advocate for what he believed in and an inspiration to many.”

In an appearance on WABC Radio with John Catsimatidis, U.S. Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma City, said Kirk was someone who “just wanted the nation to prosper and to succeed, for people to be able to walk in their faith and to be able to live out their faith, and for America to be who America is and who we've been in the past.”

“We are angry today from the assassination of Charlie Kirk, but we should not do to others what they are doing to us in the sense [that] we should be able to live the principles of our faith and our values on that,” Lankford said.  

U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Westville, described Kirk as a friend and said Kirk was a strong champion of Christian values even in hostile environments.

“This was a guy that literally went to campuses and gave an opportunity for those with an opposing view to speak their mind and debate him,” Mullin said. “And he didn’t belittle them. He didn’t make them feel less than a person. He respected everybody. He said it with a loving voice. He talked about his love for the Lord, his Christian beliefs. He actually brought more laughter and joy to these campuses, and yet because of his Christian values, because of his traditional values, some crazy individual decided to silence his voice and steal it from all of us.”

U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Tulsa, said the movement Kirk led, and the values he championed, will not end with his death.

“Political violence is meant to silence the voice and will of the people,” Hern said. “Rest assured, anyone who has heard of Charlie Kirk knows that the movement he inspired will never let the evil actions of a coward stop the advancement of civility, liberty, and patriotism that he helped ignite.”

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore, via Wikimedia Commons