COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The University of Missouri sent an email to employees on Wednesday warning them about the potential consequences of social media posts related to Charlie Kirk’s death.
“Employees do not have unlimited rights to speak as citizens on matters of public concern,” the email signed by UM System President Mun Choi reads. “If an employee’s speech can cause disruption such as workplace disharmony, impeded performance or impaired working relationships, the university’s interest in the efficiency of its operations may outweigh the employee’s rights of free expression. Under the First Amendment, this determination is made on a case-by-case basis and affords employees with considerable room to express themselves as citizens. However, speech that causes significant disruption can be a basis for discipline or termination, even when it occurs off-duty.”
Choi notes later in the message that “special considerations of academic freedom apply for faculty and graduate instructors.”
The email also tells employees not to post copies or excerpts of internal university messages.
Choi writes that the university has fielded complaints related to social media posts “in multiple instances.”
University spokesman Christopher Ave declined to share more information about those complaints.
Kirk, a prominent conservative political activist whose Turning Point USA organization sought to win college students to his cause, died after being shot in the neck by a rifle on Sept. 10 on the campus of Utah State University. A Utah man, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, has been charged with murdering Kirk.
Prosecutors have said they plan to seek the death penalty.
Kirk supporters have sought to highlight social media posts that are critical of Kirk and celebrate his death. Many have called for people who author or share such posts to lose their jobs. The Hallsville Board of Education heard public comment Wednesday after suspending two employees while it investigates posts they shared after Kirk’s death.