Just before the anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, polling from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) showed that college students were more hesitant to engage in controversial speech on campus.  

Students for Life of America (SFLA) President Kristan Hawkins is telling them not to let fear stop them. 

In an op-ed in National Review, Hawkins details the importance of preserving free speech, how Charlie set an example, and how his death makes the mission of promoting faith, family, country, and Life all that more important. 

Hawkins wrote: 

“If our trauma leaves us silent, only one side will be heard. Studies show that left-leaning faculty wildly outnumber right-leaning faculty on college campuses — as many as 82 left-leaning professors for every one conservative professor. With discrepancies this dramatic, it is no wonder that one-third of college students report that they are uncomfortable voicing their political views on campus — unless they are Democrats, who report being more politically engaged at their universities.” 

This culture has created a strong bias among the modern left. Hawkins recounted how Students for Life Action (SFLAction) couldn’t even get Democrats in Congress to vote in favor of SFLAction’s “Pregnant Students’ Rights Act,” which would have informed students of their rights and protections should they be pregnant or parenting while pursuing their education. The legislation died in the Senate due to a lack of bipartisan support. 

The dangerous pro-abortion extremism on campuses and in government is exactly why Hawkins reminded college students of their duty to protect their constitutional rights, ones that each generation has had to fight to preserve.  

Now, students face the challenge of not censoring themselves in the face of an academic industry that wants them to be silenced. Of those surveyed by FIRE, 93% of students report that they censor themselves on college campuses to some degree, making courage a key component of addressing the college speech crisis. 

No one was better at inspiring students to speak freely without fear like Charlie Kirk. Through Turning Point USA and his famous tabling events, he left a clear example of how to engage with whom we disagree with using intelligence, civility, and grace, not to mention a gospel-centered message that brought many people to Christ. 

“Charlie Kirk went to college campuses because he believed, as I do, that we need to reach each generation with the truth about how to achieve hope and a future,” wrote Hawkins. “The boldness of stepping on college campuses for an open debate changes minds.” 

READ KRISTAN HAWKINS’ FULL OP-ED AT NATIONAL REVIEW HERE.

READ MORE OP-EDS FROM THE SFLA TEAM:

Motherhood or a Career? Christian Women Don’t Have to Choose | Olivia D’Angelo at the Daily Wire

To Address Possible Causes of Infertility, the EPA Must Look at Chemical Abortion Pills in Our Water: Kristan Hawkins at the Washington Examiner

St. Joan of Arc is an Inspiration for Pro-Life Activists: Kristan Hawkins at National Catholic Register

Parents Suffering Miscarriage Shouldn’t Have to Fight for the Right to Bury their Child: Lane Koch in The Hill