Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
A Texas Tech University law student is suing university leaders and faculty, arguing that the university violated her free speech rights by disciplining her over comments about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Ellen Fisher is a Texas Tech undergraduate alumna and founder of the campus’ NAACP chapter. She said the news of Kirk’s death broke at the end of a Race and Racism class, and that discussions of what happened among students and faculty continued throughout the day in faculty offices and legal clinics.
The lawsuit argues that despite this, Fisher was the only student who was investigated and punished. The lawsuit also says that nearly two months after the event, someone scrawled a racial slur on her car while it was parked on Texas Tech property.
Fisher reported that incident, the school told her it was “irrelevant” and then proceeded with a monthslong Honor Council investigation into whether Fisher acted unprofessionally when she discussed Kirk’s killing in classrooms and clinic offices. The process ended on March 11 after the Honor Council panel found Fisher responsible for violating the law school’s honor code after concluding her comments appeared “loud, happy and celebratory” and made some people uncomfortable.
The lawsuit disputes that characterization, arguing witness accounts conflicted and that some testimony described Fisher’s comments as neither unusual nor unprofessional.
In an interview with the Texas Tribune, Fisher’s lawyer told our reporter that the case raises basic questions about legal education. He said, “What kind of lawyers are they going to produce at the Texas Tech School of Law? They can’t be made to feel uncomfortable? That is infantilizing.”
Read the full story on our site.
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A Texas Tech University law student is suing university leaders and faculty, arguing that the university violated her free speech rights by disciplining her over comments about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Ellen Fisher is a Texas Tech undergraduate alumna and founder of the campus’ NAACP chapter. She said the news of Kirk’s death broke at the end of a Race and Racism class, and that discussions of what happened among students and faculty continued throughout the day in faculty offices and legal clinics.
The lawsuit argues that despite this, Fisher was the only student who was investigated and punished. The lawsuit also says that nearly two months after the event, someone scrawled a racial slur on her car while it was parked on Texas Tech property.
Fisher reported that incident, the school told her it was “irrelevant” and then proceeded with a monthslong Honor Council investigation into whether Fisher acted unprofessionally when she discussed Kirk’s killing in classrooms and clinic offices. The process ended on March 11 after the Honor Council panel found Fisher responsible for violating the law school’s honor code after concluding her comments appeared “loud, happy and celebratory” and made some people uncomfortable.
The lawsuit disputes that characterization, arguing witness accounts conflicted and that some testimony described Fisher’s comments as neither unusual nor unprofessional.
In an interview with the Texas Tribune, Fisher’s lawyer told our reporter that the case raises basic questions about legal education. He said, “What kind of lawyers are they going to produce at the Texas Tech School of Law? They can’t be made to feel uncomfortable? That is infantilizing.”
Read the full story on our site.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
→ Subscribe for more videos: youtube.com/user/thetexastribune?sub_confirmation=1
→ Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/texastribune
→ Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/texastribune
