Image Credit: TN General Assembly
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
A bill requiring public colleges and universities to install and maintain a “Charlie Kirk Memorial Courtyard for Civil Debate” at all public universities in the state was sent to summer study in a unanimous vote by the House Higher Education Subcommittee on Wednesday.
Sponsored by Representative Monty Fritts (R-Kingston-District 32), House Bill 2025 (HB2025) seeks “to foster and inculcate a culture of public discourse and debate, especially the civil offering of dissenting opinions, and a free exchange of ideas.”
The exorbitant fiscal note, gave members of the committee pause, and they agreed that time was needed to discuss the estimated costs of the erecting the memorials.
Fritts found the average cost of each memorial, at $380,000 a pop, unrealistic while also pointing out that the average cost of a newly constructed home is $371,000.
The inflated cost of assembling a memorial, consisting of “four posts” as Fritts described it, raised the eyebrows of more than one lawmaker, and it was suggested during discussion that universities may have “weaponized” the estimates, knowing that a bill with a high fiscal note would struggle to get funded this legislative session.
There was also substantial debate about using Kirk’s name in light of Tennessee State University being a historically black university and whether naming the memorial for other people, such as Martin Luther King Jr., could be considered or simply naming it a “Memorial for Civil Debate.”
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
