Clockwise from top left are screenshots from the social media accounts of state House Speaker Jon Hansen, Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden and Gov. Larry Rhoden. Hansen and Doeden are running for governor next year. Rhoden has not yet announced whether he’ll be a candidate. (Photo illustration by Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
After multiple Republican candidates for governor advocated firing university professors recently for personal social media posts, one of those professors says South Dakota politics is sliding down a “dangerous path.”
“They’re trying to limit what universities can offer, what faculty members can teach, what we can say in the classroom, and now, apparently, outside of it,” said Timothy Schorn, an associate professor of political science and director of the University of South Dakota’s international studies program.
After the Sept. 10 fatal shooting of political activist and commentator Charlie Kirk, some Republican officials nationwide encouraged Americans to report people who criticized Kirk. Schorn is one of the people who has received scrutiny.
On the evening of Sept. 12, Schorn published a more than 700-word criticism of Kirk to a personal Facebook account. The post included criticism of Kirk’s views on race, guns, religion and more.
On Sept. 30, Republican gubernatorial candidate Toby Doeden, of Aberdeen, published a social media post calling attention to Schorn’s writings and accusing him of “indoctrination and radicalization of our young people.”
“Under my leadership,” Doeden wrote, people like Schorn “will have no place in the classroom!”
In a statement to South Dakota Searchlight, Doeden said taxpayers should not fund Schorn’s views.
“This is about taxpayers’ money, plain and simple,” Doeden said. “If Mr. Schorn wants to open a business with his own money and speak this way, that is his right as an American.”
U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, another Republican running for governor, has not called for firings in reaction to comments about Kirk. He told South Dakota Searchlight that he has disagreed with many of Schorn’s comments.
“It’s important to remember, though, that stupid comments from professors are generally protected by the First Amendment when issued as private citizens, rather than state employees,” Johnson said.
Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden has not yet said whether he’ll be a candidate to keep his job next year. He declined to comment about Schorn, but a spokesperson said Rhoden “takes open and civil discourse on our college campuses very seriously.”
Rhoden was previously involved in another controversy about statements by a university professor.
In a post to a personal social media account within hours of Kirk’s death, University of South Dakota art professor Michael Hook used profanity and derogatory terms to describe Kirk while questioning the veracity of Kirk supporters’ concerns about political violence.
Two days later, candidate for governor and state Speaker of the House Jon Hansen, R-Dell Rapids, posted to social media about Hook.
“I immediately reached out to USD President Sheila Gestring and called on the professor to be fired,” Hansen wrote.
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Two hours after Hansen posted that, Rhoden posted to social media that “the Board of Regents intends to FIRE this University of South Dakota professor, and I’m glad.”
“We must not send the message to our kids that this is acceptable public discourse. We need more Charlie Kirks on campus and less hatred like this,” Rhoden wrote.
The state Board of Regents and the university placed Hook on administrative leave with an intent to fire him. He sued, and a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on Sept. 24, requiring the university to reinstate him pending further proceedings in the case.
The judge found that Hook had spoken as a citizen on a matter of public concern, which is a form of constitutionally protected speech; that the state failed to produce evidence that his speech had an adverse impact on the efficiency of university operations; and that Hook had a fair chance of prevailing in his lawsuit by showing the actions taken against him were a form of retaliation that could chill protected speech.
On Oct. 3, Hook’s attorney released a letter from USD President Sheila Gestring informing Hook he would no longer be fired.
“We have taken into consideration your remorse for the post, your past record of service, and the university’s interest in efficient operations,” the letter said.
Hook issued a statement that said in part, “I hope the state now understands that the First Amendment prohibits it from punishing anyone for speech about public issues — no matter how much state or national leaders or others disagree with it.”
Schorn, who studies authoritarian governments and human rights, said he views the threats of termination as part of a broader, national effort to chill speech and control thought.
“If universities can’t tolerate uncomfortable ideas, then we’re no longer educating, we’re indoctrinating,” Schorn said. “And that’s exactly what these politicians claim to oppose.”
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