BY AVERY BRASWELL, STAFF WRITER
The professional staff at St. Bonaventure University is not talking – at least publicly- about the backlash to the viral social media post of Student Government Association President Emma Gavazzi appearing to gloat over the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. University President Jeff Gingerich has promised disciplinary action against Gavazzi, who is no longer on campus, but the university has said nothing more than that she is under a formal review. On Wednesday, two members of the campus Republicans who serve on the SGA initiated impeachment proceedings to remove Gavazzi as president. The BonaVenture spoke to experts who offered insight into what likely occurred behind the scenes and offered an assessment of how the university has managed the situation thus far.
During Wednesday’s SGA meeting, junior Ryan McCombs and senior James Rumschlag called for Gavazzi’s impeachment. Prepared with a list of 132 student signatures, a third more than the required 100 to begin the impeachment process, McCombs and Rumschlag urged Katie O’Brien, the vice president for Student Affairs, to take action.
After receiving the 100 signatures, the SGA legislative branch must hold an impeachment trial during which the accused will have the opportunity to defend themselves or be represented by a member of Bonaventure’s staff, faculty, or administration, according to the SGA constitution.
There is no set date for the trial.
What Happened
On the afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 10, Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during a public appearance at a college campus in Utah. SGA executive board president Emma Gavazzi posted to social media a picture of herself smiling with the caption: “Charlie Kirk SHOT. In a statement later released by the university, Gavazzi said the post “was originally shared privately with a small group of people,” but soon it was circulating beyond that small group, sparking condemnation from tens of thousands on X and Facebook.
For example, Alex Stone, a content creator with over 75k followers on X, reposted the image.
Many people responded to that post, asking questions like: “Does the Catholic Church usually gleefully promote assassinations?” and “Does [St. Bonaventure University] condone this? If you don’t expel that trash, then explain why you won’t and why you support her disgusting message.” It took a little over 24 hours for the post to reach more 300k views.
And that was just one post.
People quickly found the university’s social media accounts and began posting their criticisms as comments to unrelated previous posts from the university.
By the next day, the university’s social media presence was wallpapered with comments such as “It seems that your school is infested with demons.” Many called for Gavazzi’s immediate expulsion; others, thinking she was an employee, called for her immediate firing.
Shortly before noon on Thursday, Sept. 11, President Gingerich issued a public statement acknowledging Gavazzi’s post, promising that action would be taken, and emphasizing that Gavazzi’s post “runs completely counter to this University’s beliefs.” Gingerich’s statement was posted to the university’s social media accounts, which eventually disabled the ability for anyone to comment, thereby limiting the flood of criticism.
Gingerich said the university had “initiated a formal review of the matter” and said “appropriate disciplinary action will be taken in accordance with institutional policies and our student code of conduct.”
“In this difficult moment, let us recommit ourselves to civil dialogue and to building bridges rather than walls. Only through understanding and care for one another can we begin to heal and find a way forward,” he said.
Some on social media suggested alumni should pull funding from the school.
On Friday, Sept. 12, President Gingerich issued a second statement reiterating the Franciscan values and restating that “appropriate disciplinary action” would be taken “in accordance with institutional policies and our student code of conduct.”
“We are proceeding firmly, fairly and in full alignment with our values,” he said, adding that “accountability and mercy are not mutually exclusive concepts, especially in our Franciscan tradition.”
Gingerich included in his second message the text of a lengthy apology he said he had received from Gavazzi, in which she called her post “a distasteful and careless mistake” and said “I hope that my character might be defined by the total sum of my actions… rather than by a single insensitive lapse in judgment.”
This apology did little to appease the critics. In addition to the storm on social media, many made it a point to call or email the university, to express their outrage, disappointment and disgust. Several people had broadcast the photo and contact information for university spokesman Tom Missell.
Missell declined to comment for this story or offer any estimate of the volume of emails or phone calls he received in the days following the post.
Things Go Quiet
There were reports of emails and phone calls flooding into the inboxes and offices of other university personnel, including faculty in the departments in which Gavazzi was majoring, but The Bona Venture has been unable to confirm, much less quantify, those calls.
No one will speak.
The Bona Venture reached out to five professors and the Dean of the Arts and Sciences school; all responded, but none would say anything substantive. The common response was for The Bona Venture to “refer to President Gingerich’s recent statements.” There was nothing “further to add” than what had already been said, most suggested.
Even communications professor Tara Walker, who has taught a course on social media and mental health, demurred. “At this point,” she wrote, “I think it might be prudent for me to not comment on anything related to the situation.”
Expert Perspective
Negative social media campaigns like the one that hit St. Bonaventure University – with calls for immediate removal of someone who has caused offense – have been termed “cancel culture,” and they can have a real impact on the people reading or hearing the messages.
“I don’t think anything prepares you for what it’s like,” said Pittsburgh journalist Salena Zito, who in 2018 was the target of a social media campaign led by anti-Trump activists who thoughther coverage too uncritical of Trump and his followers.
Zito — now a regular columnist for the Washington Post, national politics writer for the Washington Examiner and author of the New York Times bestselling book “Butler” about the 2024 attempted assassination of Donald Trump and the political forces that propelled him into a second term in the White House — said when vituperative social media and emails came at her in 2018, it felt like she was “in a pressure cooker.”
“It feels as though all the walls are closing in on you,” she said, “and you don’t know how to… it’s very difficult to understand how to navigate it.”
Zito said it’s also a challenge for the people who know and care about you.
“It’s never happened to them… they don’t, you know, they’re sort of helpless because they don’t understand how to support you in it.”
Evan Nierman, crisis communications expert, founder and CEO of the Red Banyan crisis PR firm and author of “The Cancel Culture Curse”, specializes in helping clients survive the blowback of cancel culture. Nierman said institutions like St. Bonaventure University need to apply standards “with integrity,” while “communicating clearly with the broader community and using [the incident] as a teaching moment to reaffirm what responsible leadership looks like under pressure.”
He said, “That means taking the time to assess the full context, resisting online pressure to act impulsively, and applying values consistently when considering action. Institutions must respond with clarity, consistency, and the courage to stand for fairness, even when doing so is unpopular.”
Nierman reviewed the St. Bonaventure University incident and said, “the university acted carefully by acknowledging the seriousness of the moment without rushing to a conclusion, which was the right move. Given its religious identity and the emotional weight surrounding the assassination of someone many Americans saw as a moral and spiritual figure, the stakes were higher than usual. Moving forward, the administration must demonstrate that it understands both the pain this moment caused and the importance of measured, consistent action that reflects its values.
“The school administration must chart a path that neither minimizes the offense nor sacrifices fairness to public fury,” he said. “That means applying institutional standards with integrity, communicating clearly with the broader community, and using this as a teaching moment to reaffirm what responsible leadership looks like under pressure.”
Nierman said he thinks the St. Bonaventure University incident “raises important questions about what we expect from student leaders in a moment of national mourning. It also invites deeper reflection on how grief, politics, and religious identity shape the way people interpret public speech. In times like these, institutions need not just policy, but also moral clarity and the courage to apply it with consistency.”
Everyone, Zito suggests, needs to think before posting.
“When you put something out on social media, realize that whatever you’re putting out there, it’s not one person that’s seeing it. It’s millions of people seeing it. So be thoughtful … I mean, there have been for every one tweet that I’ve done, there have been 500 that I’ve deleted and said ‘nevermind.’”
Zito said, “Maybe that’s what you want to put out there, but there are always consequences … you have to think about the consequences.”
