Lauren Stokes worked as an executive assistant at the University of Mississippi for Vice Chancellor Charlotte Parks. After Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk died, Stokes reposted a comment critical of his activism to her own private Instagram account. By the next morning, University of Mississippi Chancellor Glenn Boyce had fired her, and the university publicly condemned her post.

Stokes sued, arguing the firing violated her First Amendment rights. A federal judge dismissed her case in March, and Boyce has continued to defend the termination in court, most recently in a September 2026 filing. He claims the disruption her post caused to the university's operations, not his personal opinion of her viewpoint, justified letting her go. Stokes is now appealing to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and university faculty members and a free speech organization have filed briefs supporting her.

A private citizen's personal opinion, posted on a personal account outside of work, should not cost someone their job. If public universities can fire staff simply because a post draws online backlash, no employee's livelihood is safe from the next controversy that goes viral. Chancellor Boyce and the Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) Board of Trustees should reverse this decision, reinstate Lauren Stokes, and commit to a clear, viewpoint-neutral policy so employees are never punished for lawful speech made on their own time.

Sign the petition to demand Lauren Stokes' reinstatement and hold Ole Miss accountable for punishing speech instead of protecting it.