After Killing of Charlie Kirk, Harvard College Dean Deming Vows to Protect Conservative Students

Harvard College Dean David J. Deming condemned the murder of Charlie Kirk and pledged to protect conservative undergraduates on campus at a gathering of Republican and right-leaning student groups on Friday.

“I'm sure Charlie Kirk was an important figure to you — you may be grieving, it may be something you’re thinking about,” Deming said to a crowd of roughly 30 students. “I want you to know that we at the College are here to talk with you and to support you in any way we can.”

Planned over the summer as a celebration for incoming conservative students, the event took on a more somber tone after Kirk, a right-wing activist, was shot on Wednesday during a rally at Utah Valley University.

The assassination sparked fears that political animosity could erupt into violence on other campuses and in public spaces. College Republican groups across the country pressed administrators for increased protection. At Boston University, the student Republican group issued an open letter demanding “appropriate security” at the club’s events.

During his speech, Deming affirmed the University’s commitment to safety precautions at events and said that incidents of violence on campus were “extremely rare.”

“We want you to feel free not just to speak your mind, but to be physically safe,” Deming said. “I hope you will always feel that way despite what’s going on in the world.”

Kirk built his political brand by taking aim at liberalism in American universities, but Deming said Kirk’s enthusiasm for publicly debating his opponents could be a model for Harvard’s own civil discourse initiatives.

“What most stands out in the context of the College and what we’re trying to do here at Harvard is, here’s a person who went out of his way to find people he disagreed with, bring them forward, give them a platform, and have a conversation with them,” Deming said.

Evan J. Doerr ’28, chair of the Conservative Coalition at the Institute of Politics, said in an interview at the event that, while he was grateful for Deming’s remarks, administrators should put their energy toward combating the social and academic isolation of conservatives on campus.

“I don’t think most conservatives feel physically unsafe on campus,” Doerr said. “I do, however, think there’s work to be done to help accommodate conservative students broadly around the university.”

Kirk’s death incited a wave of calls for open dialogue from both Democrats and Republicans, who said the murder imperiled the tradition of civil debate across partisan divides.

But it also spurred heated rhetoric from some Republican politicians, who denounced perceived enemies on the left and urged the punishment of anyone who celebrated Kirk’s death. In a video address Wednesday night, President Trump said it was a “dark moment for America” and linked Kirk’s killing to “radical left political violence.”

The Harvard Republican Club wrote in a Wednesday statement posted to its Instagram account that Kirk was killed because he challenged “the dominance of the left in academia and youth politics.”

“Like the attempt on President Trump’s life last July, Kirk’s death is the result of a concerted media campaign against the young right,” the post read. “We urge President Trump to take immediate, decisive action to protect our people and ensure justice is served.”

Top-level administrators at Harvard — which embraced neutrality guidelines last year that caution against taking political stances or issuing “statements of empathy” — have so far steered clear of public statements on Kirk’s killing.

But it drew condemnation from Harvard student groups across ideological lines. The Harvard College Democrats condemned the killing in a statement, with organizers calling on the public to “come together to end political violence.”

“Universities in particular must be places of free dialogue and open expression, without fear of violence or retribution,” the group wrote on its Instagram account. “Do not allow something like this to happen again.”

The IOP Executive Team, a four-member student board, also denounced the assassination in a Thursday statement and indicated they were working with HKS security staff to “ensure the physical safety and emotional wellbeing of all students and speakers” at IOP events.

And during an appearance at a John F. Kennedy Jr. forum event on Thursday, IOP Director Setti Warren mourned Kirk’s assassination and called for civility in political spaces.

“We have a tremendous amount of work to do to infuse the openness to disagree with one another without being disagreeable — or even violent,” Warren said.

After Deming’s brief address on Friday, students mingled over hors d’oeuvres with members of the Republican Club, the Conservative Coalition, and conservative campus magazine The Salient.

“We’re so grateful to the deans of the College for helping us plan this,” Salient president Julia G. Grinstead ’27 said. “I think that it’s just really amazing to have an event that shows that Harvard has a space for conservative students, and that it’s something to celebrate.”

The Friday event — which was hosted at the home of Dean of Students Thomas G. Dunne — was attended by several other College administrators, including Dean of Undergraduate Education Amanda Claybaugh and Associate Dean for Student Engagement Jason R. Meier.

“It was nice to hear the administration talk about conservative concerns,” Evan T. Elling ’29 said. “They won’t announce it in their speeches, but it was good to hear them talk about it in here.”

Jerry A. Comar ’29, a conservative student, called the administrators’ attempts to allay concerns about safety “very comforting,” but said he was not scared by Kirk’s assassination.

“The only thing I fear is God,” Comar said. “So anything that happens, I’m not really worried. I don’t want to live with fear.”

—Staff writer Samuel A. Church can be reached at samuel.church@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @samuelachurch.

—Staff writer Elise A. Spenner can be reached at elise.spenner@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @EliseSpenner.