Clemson University has fired two more employees after facing backlash for refusing to take action on additional staff glorifying political violence in response to the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
“Following an immediate and deliberate investigation into inappropriate social media content, Clemson today terminated an employee due to their social media posts,” Clemson University announced in a Monday statement.
“After being notified on Friday to stay out of the classroom, two faculty members now have been removed from their teaching duties pending investigation for termination,” the statement continued. “The University will continue to follow required processes with urgency.”
While refusing to offer any additional details, the school insisted, “Clemson University’s commitment to the safety and well-being of our campus community remains our top priority.”
Clemson University’s board met for more than three hours on Monday to discuss legal advice, which resulted in the decision to terminate two faculty members, bringing the total to three employees fired for their vile social media posts mocking the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
This came after a spotlight was shone on the school and three of its employees — Robin Newberry, Joshua Bregy, and Melvin Villaver Jr. — when the Clemson College Republicans student group flagged their shocking and abhorrent social media posts.
“In a world full of Charlie Kirks and Brian Thompsons, be a Tyler Robinson or a Luigi Mangione,” Clemson University asbestos program manager Robin Newberry wrote, according to a report by the State.
Newberry also wrote that Kirk was a “cancer on our constitution that has now thankfully been ameliorated,” according to a report by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
The College Republicans chapter also highlighted Clemson University assistant professor Joshua Bregy, who shared a post that read, in part, “It sounds to me like karma is sometimes swift and ironic,” the State reported.
Bregy’s post also ghoulishly cited Kirk having said, “play certain games, win certain prizes,” which the Turning Point USA founder would state when debating the issue of abortion, sharing his belief that unborn children should not be killed just because two people wanted to have sex.
The biography page for Bregy, who worked in the environmental engineering and earth sciences department, has since been deleted on the university’s website.
The third Clemson University employee the College Republicans posted was Melvin Villaver Jr., an assistant professor of audio technology and global black studies, who the conservative students noted had shared posts mocking Kirk in the hours after his death.
One of the posts read, “According to Kirk, empathy is a made-up new age term, so keep the jokes coming. it’s what he would have wanted.”
Notably, leftists on social media have been sharing an out-of-context quote from Kirk about empathy, failing to include the context in which the Turning Point USA founder explains he prefers the word “sympathy” over “empathy” due to the definitions carrying different meanings.
The Clemson University professor also shared a post that read, “Nigga was worried about DEI and DIED instead,” and another, which stated, “No one mourns the wicked…”
In another post, Villaver reacted to an X user who said, “He was an old looking 31,” replying, “Racism and white supremacy age you.”
“Today was one of the most beautiful days ever. The weather was perfect, sunny with a little breeze. This was such a beautiful day,” the professor wrote in another post following Kirk’s assassination.
Villaver shared another post to his Instagram Stories, which blithely remarked “There’s no longer such a thing called Charlie Kirk.”
Villaver’s X account has since been deleted. The professor’s Instagram account has also been removed.
The biography page for Villaver has also been deleted from Clemson University’s website.
Initially, Clemson University refused to take action, releasing a statement on Friday that condemned its employees comments about Kirk, but added that “appropriate action” would only be taken “for speech that constitutes a genuine threat.”
After receiving intense backlash, the university released a follow-up statement the next day, announcing it had suspended one employee. But backlash continued, as two employees exposed by the school’s College Republicans chapter had not been addressed.
By Monday, Clemson University announced it had terminated the additional two employees.
“When individuals fall short of these expectations, especially in ways that compromise the safety of our campus community and undermine the learning environment, decisive action is not only warranted, but necessary to uphold the university’s missions and values,” board chair Kim A. Wilkerson said during Monday’s meeting, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported.
Notably, the university’s decision also followed a weekend of pressure from Clemson students and alumni, as well as from Republican members in South Carolina’s legislature and congressional delegation, who suggested pulling Clemson’s funding if it refused to fire employees who celebrated Kirks’ murder.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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