FAU placed a tenured faculty member on administrative leave pending an investigation after allegedly making comments about the shooting of the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot on Sept. 10 at Utah Valley University.

University President Adam Hasner announced Sept. 13 that a faculty member made repeated social media comments referencing Kirk’s assassination. Still, he did not identify the individual or provide details of the posts. The tenured faculty member in question is Karen Leader, an associate professor of art history and faculty associate in the Center for Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, according to a recent Sun Sentinel article.

The article reported that Leader reposted content from other users on her X page that described Kirk’s statements as racist, anti-gay, and anti-woman. Leader told the Sun Sentinel that Hasner’s statement was inaccurate, and that she never posted anything specifically about Kirk’s killing, only about some of his public statements.

Leader declined to comment to the University Press. Her X account was private at the time of publication, with “opinions mine” in her bio. Hasner mentioned in the statement that while certain state protections exist for tenured faculty, the individual was placed on leave while the university investigates.

Michael Cook is the Editor-in-Chief for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email michael17cook@gmail.com.