Charlie Kirk was a one-man answer to campus illiberalism. 

He rose to prominence at a time when university administrators and progressive students were working in league to make campuses no-go zones for conservatives. 

They effectively banned them from faculties.

They didn’t invite them on campus, or if they did, they were liable to disinvite and cancel them.

They banned so-called hate speech.

They shouted down speakers they didn’t like.

They created “safe spaces.”

In short, they did everything they could to render the opposing point of view illegitimate and indefensible. 

Kirk showed not only that it was possible to punch through these obstacles and get a hearing, but to win the argument despite them. 

He created a student movement that he leveraged into a huge, multi-faceted organization and that he mobilized to vote in 2024, to great political effect. 

He was provocative, occasionally........

© New York Post