Dallman scolds UW for silence on Kirk killing
(The Center Square) – A Wisconsin lawmaker is publicly scolding the University of Wisconsin for its silence on the death of Charlie Kirk.
State Rep. Alex Dallman, R-Markesan, wrote an open letter Wednesday to the university’s president and campus chancellors asking why no one had said anything officially about Kirk’s killing on a college campus in Utah last month.
“We hope for some sort of explanation from our university leaders here in Wisconsin,” Dallman wrote. “A statement about how our taxpayer-funded universities will ensure that students in Wisconsin can freely express their views. A statement about how political violence – regardless of ideology – is wrong and must be condemned. A statement about how students can respectfully disagree with each other civilly. But instead there is nothing.”
Dallman isn’t the only one to notice UW’s silence.
UW-River Professor Trevor Tomesh wrote his own open letter last month, noting many of the same complaints.
“The fact that Charlie was murdered on a college campus for expressing his views and opinions (the only place in society whose sole purpose is to express views and opinions) should be a turning point for all universities. Every member of every university community – faculty, administrators, staff, and students – should be saddened by this because it means the death of the university,” he wrote. “To date, there has been no statement from my university or the University of Wisconsin system.”
Conservative students on UW campuses see the university’s silence as an endorsement of political violence, Tomesh said.
Dallman said UW should make clear that no one on campus supports violence, political or otherwise.
“I can already tell you what UW System chancellors and President Rothman will say: UW’s new policy prohibits university leaders from making political statements. The purpose of this new policy is to promote and protect academic freedom, freedom of expression, and an environment in which competing ideas can be freely debated and debated by all members of the university community,” Dallman added. But he said this was not enough.
“I urge our university leaders to not only engage students in open dialogue but to actively engage speakers from all sides of the political spectrum on every campus in Wisconsin to engage in civil discourse,” he wrote. “Charlie said it best: ‘When people stop talking, you get violence.’ It is time for our universities to start talking; Our future generations depend on it.”
