Texas State Student No Longer Enrolled After Video Mocking Charlie Kirk Circulates
SAN MARCOS, TX – A Texas State University student is no longer enrolled at the institution following the widespread circulation of a video appearing to show the student mocking conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk during a campus event. The incident sparked outrage online and prompted a response from university President Kelly Damphousse.
The video, which surfaced this week, depicts a student making faces and gestures behind Kirk while he spoke at Texas State on Tuesday. The clip quickly went viral on social media, drawing condemnation from Republican lawmakers and conservative groups.
damphousse addressed the situation in an email to students, acknowledging the “reprehensible” behavior in the video but also cautioned against generalizing the actions of one individual to the entire university community. “Just as the behavior in the video was reprehensible, attempts to spread the blame onto innocent students are also unacceptable,” Damphousse wrote. “The actions of one person do not reflect our entire community or the individuals in it.”
The university confirmed the student is no longer enrolled, but has not released further details citing student privacy.
The incident occurs against a backdrop of increasing political tension on Texas college campuses. This year, several former state Republican lawmakers have been selected as chancellors of major university systems. Together, the Texas Legislature has passed measures impacting student protest, including Senate bill 2972, which restricts the use of sound amplification and limits protest times.These restrictions followed a 2019 bill, Senate Bill 18, which aimed to bolster free speech protections on campus by creating sanctions for disrupting others’ speech and protecting student organizations’ speaker invitations.