After Texas State and Texas Tech universities took swift action when students were found to have celebrated Charlie Kirk’s murder, a mother is asking why the University of North Texas has not.
The mother, Randee Hallmark, wrote to university leadership after her daughter, Mary Catherine, spoke out in class against peers who celebrated Kirk’s murder.
According to Hallmark, the student responsible for the comments admitted on social media to “celebrating the fact that he was shot,” in a post she later deleted.
Hallmark also documented a lack of meaningful follow-up from UNT’s administration, highlighting dismissive treatment from faculty as well as UNT police, and alleging that her daughter was the only one asked to switch classes rather than those who created the hostile environment.
UNT, for its part, put out a statement condemning the celebrations and saying it is “reviewing the actions reported on campus for potential Code of Student Conduct violations,” but has not announced any removals or outcomes since its initial response last week.
Hallmark isn’t satisfied. She believes the UNT Code of Conduct had been violated, alleging harassment against her daughter.
In her letter, Hallmark called the “complete lack of action, dismissiveness, and disregard for the seriousness of this incident by the faculty and staff” at UNT “appalling.”
Hallmark specifically criticized how Dean of Students Dr. Laura Smith handled the situation. She wrote that Dr. Smith recommended Mary Catherine move classes, not the other student. Hallmark added Dr. Smith didn’t respond after Mary Catherine sent her the student’s recording.
“Since these original steps were taken, ZERO action has been taken by the university,” Hallmark wrote. “The student has repeatedly stated to the Dean of Students, UNT PD, and anyone else who will listen that she does not feel safe returning to that classroom or that environment based off the statements that were made in class, along with the follow up video posted by [the other student], reaffirming that she is in full support of violence against and the murder of another human.”
Notably, Hallmark is frustrated that there have been no consequences for the other student or Dr. Kiet Huynh, the class instructor who reportedly approached Mary Catherine and suggested “they” leave the class.
Hallmark added that “many threats of violence and hate speech” have been directed at her daughter on social media.
When Mary Catherine went to the UNT police, Hallmark wrote, “[Sgt. Cody Howell] gaslights and manipulates her, [he] repeatedly attempts to set her up to say something he could use against her in support of the university.” She added, “He even closes out the conversation towards the end by stating that he doesn’t have empathy or sympathy.”
Hallmark drew a clear comparison between UNT’s lack of consequences and the decisive actions taken by Texas Tech and Texas State: “Both universities took swift and immediate action by expelling the students, both made very strong public statements condemning the behavior or any behavior like it while also making it very clear that it would not be tolerated and did not align with the values of the university,” she wrote.
Neither UNT nor its parent body, the UNT System, responded to a request for comment before publication.
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