Barri Brennan is a communications professor at Fresno City College and Fresno State who has been teaching at a college level since attending grad school in 2012. She teaches three classes at FCC and five at Fresno State with an emphasis on classroom conversation.
“I set ground rules in my class the first day. This is a communication course, so you’re expected to talk to each other, and we may not end up talking about things that are controversial or we don’t agree with each other about, but respect and kindness are key. I didn’t say agreement, but respect and kindness,” Brennan said.
Brennan believes that grading is the most tedious part of being a professor, but interacting with the students makes it all worth it.
“The students are what makes teaching amazing, because we get to share ideas and learn from each other and grow in the classroom and have these great conversations,” Brennan said.
Brennan has been on a paid administrative leave from Fresno State for over two weeks now following comments that she made to a student on campus about Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10. An audio recording was posted on Instagram revealing a small piece of the conversation where Brennan was quoted saying “It’s too bad he’s not dead. Gonna put my political views right out there. And that’s exactly what I thought.”
According to Brennan, the recording took place in-between classes during a private conversation with one student, and that student often had similar conversations with Brennan.
In California, it is illegal to record a conversation without permission from all parties, according to California Penal Code § 632.
“You as students know that each classroom is different, and so whatever happens in that classroom is in that classroom. The fact that it got taken out of the classroom and put out there, that, to me, is an assault on the sanctity of the classroom,” Brennan said.
According to Brennan and State Center Federation of Teachers President Keith Ford, Fresno State has 60 days since the event happened to investigate, but these investigations usually take longer than that. Brennan’s classes at Fresno State have been given away to other teachers, and it is unclear if she will return for the semester.
“It was communicated that I be put on leave for my safety, but they [Fresno State officials] were kind of uncertain about it, so I found out I was officially on leave by reading about it,” Brennan said, “But beyond that, what happens after this? I don’t know. They haven’t told me for sure.”
This is not the first time that Fresno State professors have been targeted or even harassed for political comments. Professors Randa Jarrar and Katherine Shurik faced backlash from the community and university after posting on social media about Barbara Bush and Elon Musk, respectively.
“Instructors need to stand up and say, ‘this is BS, nobody should be going through this,’” Brennan said. “So there’s something wrong in our society. You guys are questioning me, but the truth is it’s not about me. This is about a larger disease happening in our society.”
Despite students recording her, Brennan is apologetic to the class she taught on Sept. 10 and her other students who may have been offended. However, she does not feel an apology is necessary for the general public.
“I don’t owe an explanation to anybody. However, to that class, if I offended someone in class, and someone came up to me and said, ‘I’m really offended by what you said,’ and by the way, I run a class like that, where I want people to come up and tell me these things,” Brennan said. “No one did that, but I would have been happy to say, I’m sorry I offended you.”
Brennan detailed her experience back at FCC, and explained that she has had constructive and engaging conversations with both of her in-person classes about the situation.
“It felt like reconciliation. It was powerful. My first class–we really got into all of it. I got to apologize to a student who felt I offended his faith and have real talk. I believe it was healing for both classes,” Brennan said.
As a communications instructor, freedom of speech and expression is something that Brennan values deeply in the classroom. Not only at the university level, but especially at the community level.
“If we don’t model free speech in the classroom, how are you guys going to have it? Yeah, that’s a bottom line. If we don’t model it and openness in the classroom, what are we doing in college in the first place? This should be the place where we are able to talk our minds,” she said.
Brennan wants to continue to have conversations as well as arguments with others. If these conversations were to stop, she believes that oppression would start speaking up.
“I don’t think we should shy away, no, because that’s how oppression happens. That’s how censorship is going to happen, is that fear. So I would rather have an argument than have silence,” Brennan said. “If Charlie Kirk were alive, he’d say Barri Brennan has the right to say what she wants.”
