Harvard University has revoked the admission of conservative pundit and Parkland shooting survivor Kyle Kashuv over racial slurs he made in messages that surfaced online last month.
Kashuv, who rose to fame on the right as a vocally pro-gun survivor of the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, was set to attend Harvard in 2020 after taking a gap-year off from school. But Kashuv announced Monday in a lengthy Twitter thread criticizing Harvard that the university pulled his admission in a letter citing concerns about “maturity and moral character,” an apparent reference to the racial slurs.
Kashuv said on Monday that he doesn’t know where he will go to college now, adding that he turned down “huge scholarships” at other schools in favor of the Ivy League titan.
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Harvard University declined to comment.
On Monday, Kashuv complained that the university judged him too harshly and accused the school of having a “checkered past” of its own. “It's about whether we live in a society in which forgiveness is possible or mistakes brand you as irredeemable, as Harvard has decided for me,” Kashuv tweeted.
The messages that cost him his Harvard admission came to light in May when a fellow Parkland student tweeted images of the racist messages Kashuv wrote while still a high-school student. In a shared Google Doc with classmates, Kashuv repeatedly wrote the word “n---er,” adding “im really good at typing n---er ok.” In another message, Kashuv called black student athletes “n---erjocks.”
The loss of his Harvard admission represents a new low for Kashuv, whose pro-gun stance had once earned him a White House meeting with President Trump, a string of Fox News appearances, and speaking roles at conservative conferences.
Many of Kashuv’s former allies abandoned him after the messages came to light. At the same time, far-right figures like anti-Muslim activist Laura Loomer—who view Kashuv as a member of the GOP establishment—led a campaign urging Harvard to revoke Kashuv’s admission.
On Monday, right-wing provocateur and Kashuv foe Jacob Wohl celebrated the revoked admission, calling Kashuv a “political charlatan” in a post on the messaging app Telegram.
Not every conservative pundit has abandoned Kashuv, though.
Ben Shapiro, the conservative personality who played a major role in promoting Kashuv’s career as a pro-gun activist, tweeted that Harvard’s decision set up an “insane, cruel standard.”
