Fresno State lecturer, on leave for comments on Charlie Kirk, back in classroom
Barri Brennan, the Fresno State lecturer who was placed on a paid administrative leave after making caustic comments following the killing of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, was back in the classroom on Tuesday, the second day of instruction in the spring semester.
Brennan taught two classes, both in fundamentals of public communication. “My classes went well, and I look forward to the rest of the semester,” she said, in her only on-the-record comments.
The university confirmed that Brennan was teaching this semester, but declined to comment further on her return to campus or an investigation into comments made prior to the start of a Sept. 10 class that was conducted by the university’s office of faculty affairs.
It had released a statement in September following the death of Kirk, who was shot and killed while speaking on a college campus in Utah. A 22-year-old Utah man is alleged to have been the shooter.
“Fresno State is aware of a video circulating online that appears to record a lecturer making a disturbing comment about the death of Charlie Kirk,” it said. “The university has launched an immediate investigation into this incident. We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, any language that celebrates or condones violence. Such remarks are antithetical to our values at Fresno State.”
Brennan is under contract at the university through May 31, 2027, and as part-time faculty is represented by the California Faculty Association. Her comments, made after Kirk had been shot but before news of his death had been confirmed by authorities, were made during an informal, private conversation prior to the start of a class and were secretly recorded. Portions of the discussion were later posted to social media.
“On the surface it looked pretty Draconian what faculty affairs and the administration was doing, but in all honestly, having discussed this with faculty affairs, they were doing what they could to protect her given that she had been doxxed and someone I think at one point tried to break into her house and she was getting death threats,” Andrew Jones, president of the Fresno State chapter of the CFA, said on Tuesday. “We tried to make sure that this died down, and now she’s going to be back in the classroom.”
Brennan after a brief break had continued to teach a class last fall at Fresno City College.
Upon returning to Fresno State, the lecturer did change the course syllabus to preclude the use of electronic recording devices. The syllabus in the fall did not expressly prohibit their use, but said they should be turned off and put away prior to the start of class, unless the instructor gives permission to use them.
In an op-ed in The Fresno Bee, Brennan said the illegal recording sullied the academic classroom experience for students and faculty.
“I will not defend what I said because, honestly, it was said in a very “off the cuff,” in-the-moment, manner,” Brennan wrote, in the op-ed published last October. “It was never intended to mean anything beyond an opinion; however distasteful some might find it. It was said to one student between classes in a classroom. It was said as a private interaction between me and the student. While the classroom is considered a private space, it’s illegal to record someone without their permission in a private space.”
A nonpartisan free speech advocacy group based in Philadelphia in September urged the university to end its investigation and return Brennan to the classroom, in a letter to Fresno State president Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval. Brennan’s comments, it contended, were clearly protected by the First Amendment.
“Universities have a legitimate interest in ensuring classroom discussion is not disrupted,” the group said in the letter. “But that interest does not justify punishing a professor for a fleeting comment in the classroom. This is especially true of political expression, where free speech protection is ‘at its zenith.’”
This story was originally published January 21, 2026 at 5:30 AM.