That Prof. Who Wants Nick Shirley to Be Assassinated Needs to Go, So I Just Went Straight to His Boss
September 10, 2026
Chancellor Howard GillmanUniversity of California, Irvine510 Aldrich Hall, Irvine, CA 92697
President Matthew Parlow
Chapman UniversityOne University Drive, Orange, CA 92866
Dear Chancellor Gillman and President Parlow:
Today, on the anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, I am writing to demand the immediate termination of Matthew Goldman, who holds teaching appointments at both of your institutions.
In response to a post announcing that independent journalist Nick Shirley would be speaking this week at Harvard, Mr. Goldman wrote: “Someone can do the funniest thing just before the Kirkiversary.” There is no reasonable reading of that sentence but one: the public murder of Nick Shirley. It was posted in the same week people across the country are preparing to mark the anniversary of Charlie’s assassination, which took place on a college campus in front of students, because he held views some found objectionable.
I want to be precise about what I am and am not asking you to do. I am not asking either university to punish Mr. Goldman for holding unpopular political opinions, for criticizing Charlie Kirk or Nick Shirley, or for participating in the rough-and-tumble of campus debate. Faculty are entitled to sharp, even unfair, political speech, and I do not believe disagreement with Mr. Kirk’s politics is a firing offense. And although I know Nick Shirley personally, this is not personal.
There is a real and important difference between protest and incitement, between criticism and a vile joke about murdering someone. Mr. Goldman’s post falls on the wrong side of that line. Whatever one’s politics, a university employee who publicly jokes about a speaker being killed “before the Kirkiversary” has disqualified himself from continuing to teach, supervise, or represent either of your institutions.
I would also ask both of you to consider the position in which this puts your students, parents of students, alumni, and the taxpayers and donors that fund your programs. Mr. Goldman teaches courses on protest movements and campus activism, subjects that depend on students trusting that their instructor can distinguish between advocacy and violence. Public funds support UC Irvine, and tuition dollars support Chapman. Donors support both. Neither families nor the public should be asked to fund a classroom led by someone who has publicly joked about a public figure’s assassination.
I am asking both universities to open immediate review proceedings and to terminate Mr. Goldman’s teaching appointments. I would also ask you to state publicly that jokes about political violence against a speaker are incompatible with a faculty position at your institution, regardless of the target’s politics or the professor’s.
I recognize that both institutions will hear from people who disagree with this request, and that some will frame it as an attack on academic freedom. It is not. Academic freedom protects ideas, arguments, and political speech, however uncomfortable. It does not protect jokes about killing people, made by an employee entrusted with the safety and education of students, in the week the country is mourning exactly that kind of act.
I would appreciate a written response from each of you within one week outlining the steps you intend to take.
Respectfully,
Jenny Rae Le Roux
jennyraeca.com
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