Two FAU faculty members return to work after Charlie Kirk comments found to be protected speech.

Source: Sun Sentinel

Karen Leader, an associate professor of art history, and Rebel Cole, an eminent scholar in the College of Business, have resumed their full duties after two months of administrative leave, according to an FAU spokesperson.

The two faculty members, along with a third, English professor Kate Polak, had been placed on administrative leave with pay in September while the university hired an outside attorney to investigate complaints about their remarks on social media following Kirk’s assassination. While Leader and Polak were investigated over comments they made aimed at Kirk himself, Cole was investigated over comments he made regarding Kirk’s opponents.

Over the last two months, the suspensions have drawn criticism from FAU faculty members and other members of the community who raised concerns about infringements on the employees’ free speech. In October, FAU’s Faculty Senate and union published a joint resolution voicing concerns about the investigations. Last week, Cole filed a lawsuit against FAU, requesting his reinstatement and accusing the university of causing him emotional distress and violating his First Amendment rights.

FAU had hired Alan Lawson, a former Florida Supreme Court justice, to investigate the three faculty members. In his report, Lawson concluded that Leader’s and Cole’s speech was constitutionally protected. The investigation into Polak’s comments is ongoing.


Read more: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2025/11/19/two-fau-faculty-members-return-to-work-after-charlie-kirk-comments-found-to-be-protected-speech/

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The three cases are quite different.

Rebel Cole is a scholar at FAU's business school. His comments, made on personal social media, addressed Charlie Kirk's critics and included the line: "“we are going to hunt you down. We are going to identify you. Then we are going to make you radioactive to polite society. And we will make you both unemployed and unemployable.” In Florida, this kind of threatening hate speech is being criticized as " inconsistent with the decorum encouraged by University policy.”

Karen Leader, who was suspended two days earlier than Cole, but has also been reinstated, appears to mainly have shared posts critical of Kirk on X and added comments such as "This is Charlie Kirk."

Kate Polak is still under investigation. Polak's posts on Threads included one in which she wrote "“Delighting in the death of someone who wished death on us isn’t sick. It’s self-defense.” It sounds like this was a down-thread comment responding to a Kirk poster accusing unnamed persons of celebrating Kirk's murder. I saw many such posts at the time. Responding to such specious claims was a fool's errand, but Polak went there.

I think Cole's over-the-top malice and incitement dwarfs the sin of Polak's blabber if the standard is appropriate behavior for university faculty. I also do not think " behavior standards" outside of work should be used to muzzle First Amendment rights.