Rutgers University is now defending a religion professor who signed a petition aiming to oust the campus chapter of Turning Point USA (TPUSA), a popular student group founded by Charlie Kirk known for promoting free markets, constitutional rights, and, apparently, ideas that terrify progressive faculty, according to Fox News Digital .
The petition, hosted on Change.org, absurdly accuses TPUSA of “promoting hate speech and inciting violence against our community.” Of course, in today’s woke lexicon, “hate speech” usually means “opinions we don’t like,” and “violence” now includes the crime of disagreeing with a leftist professor.
While Change.org doesn’t publicly reveal the full list of signatures, its “Recent signers” carousel made one name stand out: Tia Kolbaba, an associate professor of religion at Rutgers. Apparently, Kolbaba feels threatened by a group handing out pocket Constitutions.
Rutgers, for its part, offered a predictably sanitized statement, saying it’s “committed to providing a secure environment… where all members of our community can share their opinions without fear of intimidation or harassment.” That is, unless you’re a conservative—then you’re fair game for smear campaigns.
“The university does not comment on specific personnel or student conduct matters,” the statement continued, without addressing the irony of faculty actively trying to shut down student free speech.
The petition comes just weeks after Charlie Kirk, the founder of TPUSA, was assassinated during a campus event at Utah Valley University—a shocking and horrifying act. The alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, reportedly scrawled “hey fascist, catch!” on shell casings and adorned them with other far-left slogans. This murder, however, hasn’t triggered any Change.org campaigns against violent rhetoric from the left.
Unsurprisingly, TPUSA at Rutgers isn’t taking the smear campaign lying down.
“The petition to disband our Turning Point chapter is blatantly defamatory,” said Ava Kwan, outreach coordinator for the chapter.
“The accusations of ‘inciting violence’ and ‘making threats’ are complete lies,” she continued. “The same people claiming we’re suppressing their free speech are actively trying to silence us for speaking the truth. It’s not just ironic, it’s hypocritical and absurd.”
Indeed.
Adding more fuel to the fire, TPUSA recently launched their own petition calling for the firing of Dr. Mark Bray, a Rutgers professor affectionately nicknamed “Dr. Antifa.” Bray is the author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, a manifesto advocating “militant anti-fascism.” He’s been accused of financially supporting Antifa and proudly states that “at least 50 percent” of the book’s proceeds go to the International Anti-Fascist Defense Fund, a group run by hundreds of Antifa operatives across 18 countries. Totally normal.
In what may be the most dramatic (and self-owning) turn of events, Bray recently announced that he and his wife are fleeing to Spain. According to Bray, their address was doxxed, and they received threats—ironically blaming TPUSA for the backlash.
Amazingly, the same petition to oust TPUSA at Rutgers tries to pin Bray’s fear-driven exit on the student group, despite zero evidence connecting them to any threats.
Kwan didn’t mince words in her response:
“Any opinion that challenges their worldview is immediately branded as ‘hate speech,’ a meaningless term weaponized to control dissent and protect their false narrative,” she said.
“The petition, Bray’s retreat abroad, and my own doxxing by unhinged Rutgers leftists all tell the same story: they know they’re losing.”
And that’s what this is really about. The progressive stranglehold on higher education is slipping, and every time a conservative student speaks up, the ivory tower elites panic. Instead of open debate, they prefer censorship, intimidation, and—when all else fails—petitions demanding the removal of anyone to the right of Bernie Sanders.
So while TPUSA continues to fight for free speech, Rutgers University seems content playing defense for professors who want to cancel it.
Welcome to the new campus normal—where feelings trump facts, and free speech depends on your politics.
