Employee Fired Over Kirk Comments

Charles Wisser, a Belmont University staff member, is no longer employed at the university following a comment he made on social media about the death of Charlie Kirk.  

He accused Kirk of spreading lies and enabling fascism, dismissed praise of him as “laughable,” and mentioned the release of unredacted Epstein files. He said the public is still finding out what happened and added he’s “not sorry he’s gone,” the comment read. 

Wisser worked at West Virginia University prior to starting his job as a technology resource manager in the O’More College of Architecture and Design at Belmont this fall. 

Former West Virginia state delegate Derrick Evans posted a screenshot to his X account of Wisser’s original comment on Sept. 11. Evans tagged Belmont University’s X account in a follow-up post. 

The thread started circulating around the O’More community. With hundreds of thousands of views on Evans’ post, word reached Belmont the next morning. 

Sophomore interior design major Cate Morton was working at the Jack C. Massey Center admissions desk Friday morning when she received a call from an anonymous woman notifying her of Wisser’s comment on social media.  

“This person had a negative response to what was said. That was very clear in the phone call, but she didn’t say any details about what was said,” said Morton. 

The caller hung up immediately after telling her about the comment, Morton said.  

“Such comments do not reflect our Christ-centered mission and they amplify the extreme political polarization plaguing our country... This individual is no longer a Belmont employee,” said newly hired dean Rick Archer in an email to O’More faculty and students Friday afternoon. 

In a follow-up email, assistant to the dean Emily Kynerd notified the O’More community that access to the second, third and fourth floors along with the exterior doors of the Hitch building would be switched to card reader only. 

She said in her email that the doors were locked out of extra caution, considering possible community concerns over safety, as mentioned in the dean’s previous email.  

The doors to the Hitch Building are now unlocked, students say. 

“I feel like this situation brought up a lot of emotions, and a lot of times people can think very irrationally. So, in my mind, I think they’re, just out of abundance of caution, trying not to allow any emotionally driven people to interrupt the architecture, interior design or fashion floors based off what this former employee said,” said Morton.  

Some O’More students were surprised at Wisser’s comment. 

“I had met Charles, he seemed very nice,” said sophomore interior design major Kathleen George. 

O’More College already holds Archer in high esteem, so for him to have let go of Wisser tells her that something was wrong, she said.  

“What he said, I think it’s a very polarized stance, and I think that’s not OK. If you have those feelings, I don’t think that’s OK, but you should not especially share them knowing that you’re staffed by a school and that people are going to see that. Just overall, not OK,” said George.  

Wisser's comment circulated one day after an email was sent out by Belmont University president Greg Jones addressing anonymous comments on social media of students supporting Kirk’s assassination.  

“As a Christ-centered institution, we strive to create an environment where every person feels respected and valued as a beloved child of God. This means approaching our conversations—whether online or in person— with kindness, empathy and humility even as we may be passionate about our convictions,” said Jones in his email. 

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This article was written by Georgina America