CCU fires one, suspends another over social media content
A Coastal Carolina University employee has been fired and another has been suspended as the university investigates social media content regarding the Charlie Kirk assassination.
CCU wrote in an unsigned news release on Tuesday, Sept. 16 that the university had received reports of social media content “posted by university employees and individuals not employed by the university,” and investigated.
"Based on these reports and in accordance with applicable university policy, one employee has been dismissed, effective immediately, and another has been suspended without pay, pending further review,” the university’s statement reads. “No additional details are available at this time, as these are personnel matters.”
Part of the questionable content apparently stems from a screen shot of a post on a Linkedin page that appears to belong to Kaitlin Nash, a graduate programs and career transitions administrator in CCU’s Spadoni College of Education and Social Sciences.
The screen shot, which is posted on the Horry County Chapter of Moms For Liberty Facebook page, is a repost of a Facebook post by South Carolina State Rep. Heather Ammons Crawford.
The comment at issue on Nash’s alleged Linkedin page, which has been taken down, stated the following regarding the assassination of Kirk, a conservative political activist, on a Utah college campus last week.
“The controversy isn’t about being politically incorrect, having a difference of opinion, or preaching the gospel. It is about repeating bigoted ideas on a stage that reaches millions,” Nash allegedly posted.
Some have suggested that the post implies that Kirk was somehow at fault for his own slaying.
Nash did not immediately return a phone message or email requesting comment.
U.S. Rep. Russell Fry (R-Murrells Inlet) weighed in on his website, reposting the Moms for Liberty post, which includes a photo of Nash wearing a “Fed Up Moms for Harris” T-shirt.
“Justification of this horrendous act on any level is unacceptable,” Fry wrote in response.
“Hopefully,” Fry continued, "Coastal Carolina University will take action much quicker than Clemson University."