This is the original mass email sent out by Erik Müürisepp, Vice President of Student Affairs & Dean of Students acknowledging Kirk's death.

"Today carries a heavy mix of emotions and feelings for many in our community and around the Nation. We are grappling with the horrific incident on a college campus in Utah yesterday, another school shooting in Colorado, and the 24th anniversary of 9/11 – each bringing its own weight and impact to many of us."

@OKeefeMediaGroup

Senior Lecturer & Professor of Philosophy & Religion Benjamin Chicka responded to the email calling Kirk "a fascist Christian nationalist":

"Hi Erik,

Since I have not seen or heard anyone else speak up, I will.

I do have questions about why you would refer to the death of a fascist Christian nationalist (rather recently known as Nazis during WW II) as “horrific” when you did not send similar emails in response to mass shootings of minorities (many students on our campus) that he actively encouraged his followers to attack. You and I may not approve of the way Charlie Kirk was killed, but Charlie Kirk approved of the way that Charlie Kirk was killed. I was ashamed that our college lowered our flags to half-mast for a bigot. Many better people have been assassinated with no recognition.

Kirk was not a defender of free speech. He just whined like a baby when political opponents pointed out that he lied about minorities. There is no greater hypocrite than a bigot who complains about free speech while shutting down free speech. This article in The Nation sums it up, because, other than the caveat that nobody should be killed, nothing about his life deserves mourning. As the author, Elizabeth Spiers, correctly notes, “Kirk was fine with murder as long the right people were dying”:

Instead of listening to NPR analysts bend over backward to treat this as another normal tragedy, I encourage you all to read this longer obituary of who Charlie Kirk really was in this life:

Not all deaths are equal, and if we can do no better than both-sides-ism here, this college is doomed.

I expect better of our administration and their staff,

Benjamin Chicka.”

@OKeefeMediaGroup

Curry College Lecturer Janet Ferone replied to this email agreeing with Benjamin Chicka:

"While I agree that a mass email is a hard place for a debate, I am writing because I definitely agree with what Benjamin said, as I feel like we are being gaslit in this country to make Charlie Kirk into some national hero.

While students may be upset about the incident, this was a targeted political attack. There has been multiple random college shootings that I would think students would need to gather about because it is something that could affect them much more than a targeted political hit of a man who himself said that deaths are acceptable to keep the second amendment. What are we saying to our LGBTQ students who Charlie Kirk has condemned and falsely called trans people frequent mass shooters? How are we making our Black students feel when he claims Blacks are the ones causing crimes and calling Dr. MLK Jr. an awful person? I can cite similar issues for our gathering of many female students. There have been so many K through 12 school shootings that I know impact our education student studying to be teachers, because I am teaching and supervising them. Yet I do not recall a gathering for any of those incidents. I am totally in support of offering opportunities for Curry students to gather, but it is really a bad look when it is attached to the recent Kirk incident. It also does not help matters to have such a rude response to Benjamin who was bringing thoughtful points to be addressed.”

@OKeefeMediaGroup

Later in the email chain Associate Professor of Sociology & Criminal Justice Sarah Augusto replied saying:

“As faculty, our most important responsibility is to educate, support, and empower every student that comes through our classrooms. You can’t do that if you believe – as Kirk did – that women and non-white people are less capable and intelligent than white men, or that LGBT people are mentally ill.”

She went on to say:

"I believe what the email to students was attempting to do is acknowledge that the Kirk assassination happened on a college campus in a week with several other campus shootings. And the fact that the video went viral and so many of our students were exposed to it is certainly something that seems legitimate to address. My problem with the email is that it was quite vague and could have been much more specific about why the College thought this was something it was necessary to message students about. Without that specificity, it can be taken as somehow elevating the assassination over other incidents, and could unintentionally send the message that College cares more about the death of a man who openly espoused bigotry and whose career was dedicated to perpetuating beliefs that contribute to both literal and structural violence is more worthy of recognition than the other multitudes of atrocities happening all over the place all of the time."

@OKeefeMediaGroup

The following pages are no longer active:

@OKeefeMediaGroup