Following the Sept. 10 assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on the campus of Utah Valley University, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) commissioned College Pulse to conduct a nationwide survey of 2,028 undergraduates to measure their views on speech in the aftermath of the killing.

The survey, fielded Oct. 3 to Oct. 31, indicates many college students, particularly those holding left-wing views, still view words as acts of violence, which indicates those students believe acts of true physical violence can be an appropriate response to speech with which they disagree.

FIRE found that 48 percent of students nationwide say that the phrase “words can be violence” either “completely” or “mostly” describes their thoughts. Only 9 percent of students said that phrase “does not describe my thoughts at all.”

The poll showed that 29 percent of college students nationwide endorse the idea that “silence is violence,” meaning those who fail to express agreement with your views are engaged in a violent attack on you. Only 21 percent said that phrase “does not describe my thoughts at all.”

Against that backdrop, the poll found many students say they are far less likely to speak openly.

“A notable portion of students nationwide report being less comfortable expressing political views in the classroom, in a common campus space like the quad or lounge, or on social media; they say the same thing about attending public events on campus; and even about attending class,” the FIRE report stated.

The report noted that concern is “significantly more pronounced” among politically conservative students nationwide. FIRE also stated that the “chilling effect is especially pronounced among conservative students, who consistently report higher levels of unease than their moderate and liberal peers.”

The FIRE survey found that 56 percent of conservative students nationwide say they are less comfortable expressing views on a controversial political topic in a class discussion and 53 percent are less comfortable expressing those views to other students in a common campus space.

The FIRE survey’s results were released as Oklahoma’s two major universities are embroiled in controversy for acts of discrimination committed by staff against conservative students.

At Oklahoma State University, junior Josh Wilson was berated by Melissa Echols, OSU’s coordinator of student government affairs programs, after he chose to honor Kirk at a Sept. 10 OSU student government meeting, conducted the same day Kirk was assassinated.

During his comments at the meeting, Wilson wore a hat provided by Turning Point USA, Kirk’s group, which included indirect references to President Donald Trump.

Echols subsequently claimed wearing the Turning Point USA hat violated student government rules on nonpartisanship, told Wilson people could be “triggered” by the hat, and warned him that “this year is going to be difficult for you” if he did not accept her criticisms.

OSU officials later acknowledged that Echols’ claims about student-government rules were false. The organization has no official policies to restrict partisan expression.

At the University of Oklahoma, junior Samantha Fulnecky, a psychology major, was recently given a zero for a personal essay in which she voiced disagreement with the idea that there are more than two genders.

Students were asked to respond to an article that discussed alleged teasing or bullying of gender-atypical kids and associated negative mental health outcomes.

The guidelines asked students to write a 650-word “reaction paper” that provided a “thoughtful discussion of some aspect of the article.” Among the “possible approaches” suggested was to explain why a student thought the subject of the article was, or was not, worthy of study or to explain how the study applied to a student’s own experiences.

The assignment was not a research paper requiring citation of outside sources.

In her essay, Fulnecky wrote, “I personally believe that eliminating gender in our society would be detrimental, as it pulls us farther from God’s original plan for humans.” She also wrote that she “strongly” disagreed with the idea that “encouraging acceptance of diverse gender expressions could improve students’ confidence,” calling it a “lie that there are multiple genders.”

The course instructor, Mel Curth, reportedly a male who identifies as transgender and uses “she/they” pronouns, responded, “You may personally disagree with this, but that doesn’t change the fact that every major psychological, medical, pediatric, and psychiatric association in the United States acknowledges that, biologically and psychologically, sex and gender is neither binary nor fixed.”

Fulnecky noted the assignment was similar to numerous other essays assigned throughout the semester. None of those essays required citation of outside sources and she received perfect grades on all previous assignments.

Fulnecky also said she did not know Curth was transgender at the time of the assignment since the class is conducted online.

Fulnecky filed for a review of her grade and filed a complaint alleging religious discrimination. OU has placed Curth on leave while that investigation occurs.

Notably, the FIRE poll showed that 85 percent of liberal students nationwide oppose allowing a speaker on campus who argues that transgenderism is a form of mental disorder, while 68 percent of liberal students oppose allowing speakers who say abortion should be completely illegal.

Another survey released earlier this year, conducted by College Pulse for FIRE, found a shockingly large share of students at colleges nationwide believe violence is an acceptable way to respond to speech, including in Oklahoma, particularly at OU.

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.

Given that many students, particularly liberal students, view physical violence as an acceptable response to discussion of ideas, FIRE warned in its latest report that a climate of fear is pervading many college campuses.

“Students say they are pulling back, are speaking less, and are less comfortable attending events,” the FIRE report stated. “This is not being done in response to policy, but because of fear.”

[Photo credit: Gage Skidmore. For more stories about higher education in Oklahoma, visit AimHigherOK.com.]