When conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed earlier this month, it brought renewed focus to his organizations and their entities, including a "watch list" of college professors that includes dozens in Massachusetts.

Kirk founded Turning Point USA, a conservative organization with roots on more than 3,000 campuses nationwide. A website created by that organization has placed some college professors on a "watch list." Its mission, according to the website, is to "expose and document college professors who discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom."

Tufts and BC professor on Turning Point "watch list"

Joshua Nguyen, a writing professor at Tufts University and Boston College, was placed on the list in 2023. It was a social media post and signed petition in support of Palestinian families that got the attention of the organization. Nguyen also reposted an image on his social media calling for an end to the war in Gaza.

It was after Kirk's murder that Nguyen said he and others he knows on the list started to see an uptick in hateful messages. Some professors he knows even received death threats.

"More people are asking me about it," said Nguyen. "I do feel an inherent paranoia. I am all about freedom of expression and free speech. Whatever political beliefs I have outside of the classroom, I want the students to trust me that I can lead tough discussions and navigate through divisive issues in the classroom."

Nguyen said the pressure has caused him to second guess introducing certain materials into the curriculum and is most concerned that it might impact the relationship he has between him and his students. The website uses tags to label profiles of professors. Nguyen is labeled as "antisemitism" and "terror support," labels he takes issues with.

"It loses the nuance of I can be pro-Palestine and pro-Jewish. Those are not mutually exclusive," said Nguyen. "That's the harm of those lists. They try to create binaries and the binaries are harmful."

What other universities are on list?

Other universities in the area have professors in the online database. Harvard University leads the way with 37 teachers. Boston College and Tufts University both have five teachers listed. UMass Boston has three.

Some students at Tufts said they had heard of the website and felt that teachers should not project their views onto students but could use their experiences to expand the dialogue in the classroom.

"I think sometimes my teachers can be a bit hesitant to say certain things if it's a sensitive topic," said Tufts junior Mia Rubenstein. "That is upsetting. I feel like, especially at Tufts, should be a place and I think is a place, that values different viewpoints. We're here to learn and sometimes that means hearing things that we're not always comfortable with."