September 17, 2025
LinkedIn post by Gene Zdziarski II, PCC Senior Vice President
The shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University is a dark and disturbing event for our country and for higher education. Free speech and expression is a valued and cherished tradition of all college and university environments. For the last decade institutions have struggled to preserve our college campuses as forums where diverse thoughts and ideas can be shared and discussed. Yet we have experienced the impact of the hecklers veto, that has shut down many campus speaking events. We have endured the backlash from student, faculty, staff, alumni and the public for speaker events we did permit on our campuses. But the assassination of a campus speaker on September 10th, has dramatically changed how we need to approach speaker events on college campuses.
No institution wants videos circulating on social media of campus police arresting students, faculty or staff for disrupting a campus event. The image of metal detectors and pat downs of participants entering an event is something we all want to avoid. The public perception of these images could negatively impact the reputation of the institution, its enrollment and its fund raising. However, the inability to effectively manage a campus speaker event, to prevent a free speech event from being shut down, or worse yet from someone being injured or even killed could be far worse.
The need for clear, comprehensive and consistent policies concerning campus events is essential. These policies cannot be swayed by politics, faculty sentiment, student protest, or general public opinion. These policies should be grounded in the fundamental need to ensure campus safety.
How safe are events at your campus? Does your campus approach indoor events differently than outdoor events? Do you have metal detectors at entrances? Has there been coordination with local police, and/or the FBI? Has there been a formal assessment of the potential threat of the event? These are the realities of today’s campus events!
Free speech is essential to the campus community, but the safety of our campus community is imperative. It’s time to prepare your campus for today’s reality.
