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by WILL FOLKS
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Clemson University has landed in a political firestorm in the aftermath of last week’s shocking, politically motivated assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. The Upstate South Carolina institution of higher learning – governed by a board of constitutionally dubious “lifetime” appointees – has seen numerous members of its faculty and staff make statements celebrating or mocking Kirk’s murder.
Some of those statements appear to call for additional violence against conservatives…
Republican leaders in the Palmetto State have united in calling on Clemson to terminate any employee making such statements, but the school has steadfastly refused to do so. Members of the S.C. Freedom Caucus have gone further, urging the S.C. General Assembly to convene in an emergency session for the purpose of “rescind(ing) budget appropriations for Clemson University” – i.e. defunding the school – and passing H. 3927, a bill which would eliminate divisive, indoctrinating DEI programs at all institutions of higher learning in the Palmetto State.
Why isn’t Clemson firing these employees? According to our sources, the school is privately citing a decades-old state statute which makes it a crime to terminate someone’s employment for expressing “political opinions.”
The statute – which dates back to 1950 – is S.C. Code of Laws § 16-17-560. On its face, the language of the statute certainly would appear to prohibit school official from taking action against the professors.
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“It is unlawful for a person to assault or intimidate a citizen, discharge a citizen from employment or occupation, or eject a citizen from a rented house, land, or other property because of political opinions or the exercise of political rights and privileges guaranteed to every citizen by the Constitution and laws of the United States or by the Constitution and laws of this State,” the statute reads.
Anyone found guilty of violating the statute is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, “must be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.”
Wait… what?
So much for South Carolina being a “right-to-work” state…
Clemson’s president and its board of directors are reportedly afraid they will be criminally prosecuted (and sued civilly) if they run afoul of this antiquated law – although there’s been no indication any prosecutor in the state would ever bring such a case. Also, the potential implications of such a law – if applied universally – would seem to impose manifestly untenable obligations on employers.
This little-known statute has been on the books in the Palmetto State for the past 75 years – although a 2019 court of appeals ruling (Owens v. ADC Engineering) concluded its protections extended “only to matters directly related to the executive, legislative, and administrative branches of government, such as political party affiliation, political campaign contributions, and the right to vote.”
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RELATED | CLEMSON PILLORIED FOR RESPONSE TO FAR LEFT HATE SPEECH
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Based on that interpretation, entities would be prohibited from firing employees for criticizing government officials, identifying as members of a political party, contributing to a political candidate or voting in elections – but they conceivably could fire employees for making other statements.
Clemson has not cited this statute in its public statements related to the conduct of its faculty and staff – choosing instead to focus on ostensible First Amendment concerns.
The bigger picture for many critics? Hitting the school – which is already dealing with a budget crisis – where it hurts financially.
As noted in our prior coverage of this issue, FITSNews has repeatedly called for the privatization of South Carolina’s institutions of higher learning – arguing “no taxpayer funding should go to institutions of higher learning, either in the form of direct appropriations, loan guarantees or student loans.”
Why not? Because higher education is not – and never has been – a core function of government (especially not the inefficient way it’s done in the Palmetto State). These institutions should be cut off from the public dole and set free to pursue their destinies in the private sector – allowing the market to dictate whether they sink or swim.
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FITSNews has also stood against rampant indoctrination on these campuses – and consistently called out Clemson’s unconstitutional form of governance. For those of you uninitiated, a majority of the school’s 13-member board of trustees are lifetime appointments – which is in direct contradiction of Article XVII, Section 1.B. of the S.C. Constitution, which explicitly states “no person shall be elected or appointed to office in this state for life.”
Curious, right? Clemson’s very existence is in violation of the state constitution – yet its leaders now want to use a decades-old law to justify their continued kowtowing to the far left of the political spectrum?
This media outlet has always stood for free expression in the marketplace of ideas… and while a bedrock principle of our civilization is that no one should ever be deprived of life, liberty or property for expressing their views (i.e. what the far left did to Charlie Kirk), the First Amendment does not mean free speech is free from consequence.
To the extent this antiquated statute is extended beyond the parameters articulated in the 2019 appeals court ruling, it should be invalidated.
What will Clemson do next? We’ll find out soon as its constitutionally dubious board has scheduled a “special called” meeting for tomorrow (Monday, September 15, 2025) at 2:00 p.m. EDT.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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9 comments
The statute says it’s illegal to intimidate any citizen for his political beliefs. One of the posts called for killing more conservatives. I feel pretty intimidated. Arrest the poster.
I believe in free speech. Whether a fireman or EMS worker saying on social media that they should be able to run over an Antifa protester who is blocking their way while tbey are on an emergency run; or one of these liberals celebrating what happened to Charlie Kirk. If it is made off the clock and on their device, free speech should prevail.
In the recent past I have read and agree with the idea that offensive speech in particular needs to be protected.
The reason why those staff and faculty members were not fired, is because liberals are 90 percent of the employee population at Clemson, USC, CofC, The Citadel, Coastal Carolina and all of the public universities in SC. Universities only hire liberals, unfortunately. My husband has worked at several universities and you’d be shocked to know how many democrats are running the show at these universities.
Independent chiming in. This is where political debate (which would be great if it were fact checked and scored as it is in high school or college debate and you had to take the side assigned to you) gets interesting. The folks who last week were very anti-cancel culture are cancelling at warp speed when their favorite mouth pieces say vile and aggressive things regularly. Those in the middle are just sick and tired of hypocrisy by the extremes of both major parties. As with most things, the truth and the path forward is through the middle. This was a tragedy, a victim is a victim, a murderer is a murderer. Whether it’s a conservative poli-entertainer-influencer, a state-level liberal, a child in school, a candidate for office, ….we have to tolerate each others speech but not aggression and violence, period. If you believe it to be a Christian nation check out Jesus’ actual words, turn that other cheek and love your neighbor as yourself if they are wearing a MAGA hat or a Rainbow t-shirt.
AMEN!!!!
Didn’t this blog argue that people shouldn’t lose their livelihoods over usage of the N-word at one point?
I hate the state. I don’t hate the employees however they represent the state in reality. The state is a fiction that without human resources it would not exist. Every employee, every human who receives a paycheck from the state, town, city, county, state and federal, represents the state 24 hours 365 days a year and should be restricted from having any opinion at all. They should not be allowed to vote either after all they have a conflict of interest getting paid by the people they vote for.
Public education is indoctrination and should be abolished. In fact state indoctrination must end if the people want to be free but alas not one in a thousand can see through the brain fog their public education has left them with.
Clemson’s Board has called a special meeting for today at 2PM …. only item is an Executive Session ………..hhmmm.
Jean Gallagher, nice post.