A Florida Atlantic University spokesperson confirmed that finance professor Rebel Cole was placed on administrative leave this week. The action followed the resurfacing of a series of controversial posts on Cole’s personal social media accounts and marked the third university professor placed on leave after Charlie Kirk-related posts.

Since the decision was made, Cole has taken to his X page to denounce his leave. While also recognizing an FAU art professor, Karen Leader, who was placed on leave on Sept. 13 after reposting social media posts regarding the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot on Sept. 10 at Utah Valley University. Cole said in a Sept. 17 post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he feels this is a direct attack on his First Amendment rights.

“This is my leftist FAU colleague Karen Leader, who was also suspended by Florida Atlantic University for her X posts. I find them to be disgusting. But this was her personal account with no mention of FAU. FAU has violated her First Amendment rights, just as it did mine,” Cole wrote in the same post.

Leader and Cole are not the only professors at FAU facing disciplinary action. Kate Polak, an English professor in the English department, is also facing disciplinary action for her social media comments, as she was placed on leave on Sept. 15.

Cole, the Lynn Eminent Scholar Chaired Professor of Finance in FAU’s College of Business, has drawn criticism for a series of social media posts on X and LinkedIn. The University Press has since contacted Cole for comment on the situation, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

“For challenging disgusting X posts about Charlie Kirk’s assassination using my personal X account, Florida Atlantic University’s administrators in the Provost’s Office have suspended me and banned me from campus. This has caused grievous damage to my reputation,” Cole wrote on a Sept. 16 post on X.

A university spokesperson said they do not comment on personnel matters but confirmed Cole is on leave. “Our focus remains on our academic community’s responsibility to promote civil discourse, conduct healthy debate, and treat one another with respect. This applies to all members of the FAU community, no matter their political leanings,” the university spokesperson emailed the University Press.

Many of Cole’s posts contain language that is characterized as discriminatory or threatening. In one recent post on X, Cole wrote a message directed at a transgender Delta Air Lines pilot: “A man pretending to be a woman should never pilot one of your planes.” He continued in the same thread, warning a commenter: “Be very afraid. We are going to hunt you down. And we will make you both unemployed and unemployable.”

He has since launched a GiveSendGo campaign to help raise money for legal defense for the situation, which he wrote in a statement on X, may bankrupt him. “Stand up for Charlie Kirk, as I did, and for the First Amendment,” wrote Cole on Sept. 17.

This story is still developing and will be updated as new information becomes available.

Emily Ives is a Contributing Writer for the University Press. For more information on this or other stories, contact Ives at Ives2025@fau.edu.