A Tennessee lawmaker is pushing to permanently honor conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on college campuses across the state, and the price tag is raising eyebrows.
Rep. Monty Fritts (R-Kingston) has introduced legislation that would require a “Charlie Kirk Memorial Courtyard for Civil Debate” to be built at 47 institutions within the University of Tennessee system and the Tennessee Board of Regents system. The list of affected schools includes Middle Tennessee State University, Tennessee State University and Austin Peay State University, among others.
Each courtyard would need to be at least 1,600 square feet and would feature four plaques displaying the Bill of Rights, the Tennessee Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Ten Commandments. Kirk’s name and date of death would appear on each plaque.
Schools have estimated the project would run taxpayers more than $18 million to construct, with ongoing maintenance costs of roughly $235,000 per year.
Fritts defended the proposal by drawing on a biblical comparison. “In the Bible, God would often have his people stack up stones to remember where he had moved or something significant,” he said. “I think we need to do that more.” He also described Kirk as someone who was “martyred for civil engagement,” while acknowledging he was “certainly not a perfect person.”
Not everyone is on board. Rep. Ronnie Glynn (D-Clarksville) took issue with the part of the bill that would require universities to use the specific name tied to Kirk. “To force a university to say we’re going to call it by this name, it kind of goes against the freedom of speech in my opinion,” Glynn said. He added that a more general name, like “Courtyard of Civil Debate,” would be something he could support.
Lawmakers ultimately decided to defer the bill, with a study on the proposal expected to take place this summer.