In the wake of right-wing, political activist Charlie Kirk’s death, House Bill 113 has been introduced to the Florida House of Representatives. If passed, it will require state universities and public colleges to rename specified roads to names relating to Charlie Kirk.

FGCU has already been assigned to rename FGCU Boulevard to Charlie James Kirk Boulevard if the bill were to pass. Any university who refuses to comply will have state funding withheld from the school. 

There are some who think this bill is a move in the right direction, and there are others who think it isn’t that big of a deal. I disagree with both.

Forcing universities to change the name of a road doesn’t sound relatively bad in itself. However, withholding funding for those universities that fail to comply would not only impact the university itself, but it could negatively affect the education of the students within it.

Story continues below advertisement

This prevention of funding would not only be unreasonable, but it would be unconstitutional. Universities should be allowed to disagree with the renaming of their own roads without fear of punishment, especially when politics are involved. This political bias needs to be kept out of the university systems.

For years, I’ve constantly heard people complain about how “democratic rhetoric” has taken over university classrooms. So, it wouldn’t be any better if an openly, far-right, conservative figure, like Kirk, became ingrained on a main, university road sign.

As for Kirk specifically, his death was horrific. No matter what their beliefs, nobody deserves to die in such a gruesome way and the people who supported him should be allowed to pay their respects. However, Kirk should not be commemorated through such vast, authoritative measures 

The issue isn’t just promoting Kirk’s right-wing rhetoric. This country was founded upon the idea of free speech, and everyone deserves to use that, even if I don’t personally agree with certain opinions. But these opinions shouldn’t be forced onto others.

Kirk also often debated issues of humanity, not just politics. From his views on women’s rights, to his controversial race theories, Kirk repeatedly insulted anybody who was not a straight, white, republican male. He lacked empathy for others and a person like that should not be memorialized in a public university.

One of his most controversial takes was his view on gun control. Kirk said back in 2023 that the loss of some lives was worth keeping the second amendment. Gun violence is a highly prevalent problem across college campuses nationwide. I do not think universities should be forced to celebrate a man who didn’t care about the innocent students who have lost their lives in school shootings throughout the decades.

If anything, these roads should be named after the universities that have suffered, or the college students who have died from gun violence –which remains uncontrolled due to the ideals from individuals like Kirk.

Not only did Kirk dismiss the very lives of college students, but he repeatedly denounced receiving a college education in general. Kirk called the university systems a scam on several occasions. So, why should colleges name a road after a man who repeatedly condemned the entirety of what these universities stand for?

Forcing universities to implement these changes based purely on the idolization of a controversial and hateful political figure is wrong. Even if you have similar opinions to Kirk, it should be obvious that pressuring public educational systems to comply with one perspective is flawed, even if the perspective manifests on something as simple as a road sign.

With that, I believe Charlie James Kirk Boulevard should not come to fruition.