LSU professor emeritus compares Charlie Kirk to KKK leader after governor proposes statue on campus

At least two professors in Louisiana have expressed outrage after Republican Gov. Jeff Landry called on the state’s largest school to erect a statue of Charlie Kirk, with one who worked at Louisiana State University (LSU) comparing Kirk to KKK leader David Duke. 

“We’re gonna put a challenge out to the LSU board of supervisors to find a place to put a statue of Charlie Kirk to defend freedom of speech on college campuses,” Landry said in a video posted to social media from the LSU campus.

Landry was at LSU Monday evening for a rally with the school’s Turning Point USA chapter. He said more than 1,500 people attended the event, which also featured conservative best-selling author and podcaster Allie Beth Stuckey.

“Come on ladies and gentlemen, let’s see if we can be the first campus to do it,” Landry said.

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A professor emeritus at LSU, Robert Mann, took to Bluesky to accuse Kirk of racism and express his displeasure with Landry’s call.

“If Jeff Landry wants a statue of a white nationalist on the LSU campus, it shouldn’t be Charlie Kirk,” he said in a post. “Shouldn’t he be honoring our home-grown racists, like David Duke (who actually went to LSU)?”

Mann retired in 2024, but still has an active profile on LSU’s website. He published a book through LSU Press this year. 

An associate professor of environmental sciences at Tulane University in New Orleans, Nicole Gasparini, also slammed Landry’s proposal on the left-wing social media app.

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“Sooo my governor wants LSU to put up a statue of someone who created an organization with the *specific goal* of targeting and harassing professors,” she said.

Kirk, who founded Turning Point USA, was assassinated at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10 while debating with students during the first stop on his “American Comeback Tour.”

Elsewhere in Louisiana, a newly-formed Turning Point chapter at Loyola University New Orleans was barred by the school’s student government association from becoming an official campus club, denying them the opportunity for campus funding and to use campus resources, like reserving rooms at the school.

Citing Kirk’s opposition to gay marriage and transgenderism, one student said TPUSA’s values didn’t align with those of the Jesuit Catholic school. Another student accused Kirk of bigotry against Hispanics.

The school told Fox News Digital that the TPUSA organizers have some recourse.

“Student leaders of the proposed organization have been notified of their right to appeal the decision through the SGA Court of Review, as outlined in Loyola’s Student Organization Handbook,” the school said.

“Loyola will continue to support the student-led process as it moves through its next steps.”

Mann and Gasparini did not respond to requests for comment. Neither did their respective universities.