Parkland Survivor and Former Turning Point Activist Says Harvard Pulled His Admission After Racist Speech Surfaced

Harvard University has apparently rescinded its offer of admission to Kyle Kashuv, a survivor of the 2018 mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., and a former Turning Point USA leader, after racist comments he made about two years ago surfaced online.

Kashuv became an activist for gun rights shortly after the Parkland shootings but was accused in May of having used racial slurs in a shared Google Doc in 2017. He wrote the N-word multiple times in the document and followed the slurs with “practice uhhhhhh makes perfect.” Shortly after the comments became public, he posted a statement on Twitter calling the racist language he had used “callous and inflammatory” but not formally apologizing for it.

On Monday, Kashuv posted documents to Twitter that appeared to show Harvard had second thoughts about granting him admission.

1/ THREAD: Harvard rescinded my acceptance.

Three months after being admitted to Harvard Class of 2023, Harvard has decided to rescind my admission over texts and comments made nearly two years ago, months prior to the shooting.

I have some thoughts. Here’s what happened.

— Kyle Kashuv (@KyleKashuv) June 17, 2019

According to the documents, the university’s admissions committee had decided that Kashuv’s two-year-old language violated the conditions of his acceptance, and threatened to rescind his admission following an investigation.

“We have become aware of media reports discussing offensive statements allegedly authored by you,” said a letter, dated May 24. “As you know, Harvard reserves the right to withdraw an offer of admission under various conditions, including ‘if you engage or have engaged in behavior that brings into question your honesty, maturity, or moral character.’”

Kashuv responded to the committee, he wrote on Twitter, that he takes “full responsibility for the idiotic and hurtful things I wrote two years ago.”

But on June 3, he said, the university wrote that he would no longer be accepted into Harvard’s Class of 2023, this fall’s freshman class. Rachael Dane, director of media relations at Harvard, said it does not comment publicly on the admissions status of individual applicants.

In response, Kashuv criticized Harvard’s decision on Twitter, relating the situation to the institution’s own past associations with slavery and segregation.

“If Harvard is suggesting that growth isn’t possible and that our past defines our future, then Harvard is an inherently racist institution,” Kashuv tweeted. “But I don’t believe that.”

Kashuv’s status as a right-wing activist grew considerably after the 2018 shootings, which claimed 17 lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He gained attention mostly for his advocacy for campus safety through gun rights. Kashuv has made frequent appearances on Fox News and has met with President Trump.

In his rise as an activist, Kashuv also became a high-school-outreach director with Turning Point USA, a right-wing organization with chapters on many college campuses. He resigned from that position on the same day that the racist language was posted to Twitter.

Kashuv did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Chronicle.

Grace Elletson is an editorial intern at The Chronicle. Follow her on Twitter @graceelletson, or email her at grace.elletson@chronicle.com.