COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) -- There has been a social media firestorm in the aftermath of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk's assassination.
And part of that firestorm has reached Columbus and Columbus State University.
Columbus State University Creative Writing professor and Director of the CSU Press, Dr. Allen Gee, has resigned from those roles.
WRBL learned this Monday after an interview with CSU President Dr. Stuart Rayfield.
Gee met with Rayfield on Monday and offered to resign his post with the CSU Press and the D.L. Jordan endowed chair that he currently holds.
Rayfield accepted the resignations. She said Gee – a tenured faculty member – would remain employed by CSU as an English professor.
Here's part of what Gee posted on a Columbus Ledger-Enquirer website last week after Conservative political activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated in Utah.
Here was Gee's original comment on a Columbus Ledger-Enquirer opinion article last week.
"Charlie Kirk was worth over $12 million. He spewed hate constantly and used any tactic he could—interruption, talking loudly and over students—to humiliate students. He never sought unity and reveled in putting down younger people. His debates were filled with falsehoods, racism, homophobia, and white supremacist rhetoric. There was very little that was brave about how he spread hate. His shooting was extremely sad, though, with him dying as a victim of the gun violence that he sanctioned, defending the Second Amendment after a school shooting in which children were killed. Sadly he received death threats all the time and his children will not grow up with their father, and his wife has lost her husband."FSG 2
Here is what DR. Rayfield told WRBL Monday afternoon.
"Dr. Gee and I were able to have a very meaningful conversation," Rayfield said. "During the course of that conversation, Dr. Gee lamented the impact his words have had on people."
Here's what President Rayfield said in a university statement that was released Monday afternoon.
"I want to address recent social media posts by a member of the Columbus State University community about the recent tragic shooting and death of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University.
While individuals—students, faculty and staff alike—are entitled to their own personal views under the First Amendment, those views do not represent the university. Nor do they necessarily reflect our values. I regret that these comments have become associated with Columbus State and that they have caused anger online and pain in our community.
Columbus State stands for respectful, civil discourse. As Chancellor Perdue said last week (his statement is below), our role as educators is to prepare students for citizenship in a democracy grounded in both free expression and mutual civility. In moments like these, our community should not be defined by what divides us, but by how we come together with empathy and respect."
There have been people online calling for the university to terminate Dr. Gee for his comments. Some university donors have expressed concerns and threatened to withhold contributions to the university.
College campuses across the country have been dealing with this blowback in the wake of Kirk's assassination.
Earlier Monday, a Clemson University professor was terminated for making comments regarding the death of Kirk.
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