On October 7, 2025, Republican State Representative Kevin Steele filed House Bill (HB) 113: “Redesignations of State University and Florida College System Institution Roads.”
The proposed legislation would require 40 Florida public colleges and universities including Daytona State College to rename specific streets listed in HB 113 after Charlie James Kirk, or face having their state funds withheld.
Kirk was an American right-wing political activist and founder of Turning Point USA. On September 10, 2025, he was shot and killed during an event at Utah Valley University.
Among the institutions mentioned in HB 113, Daytona State College is listed in Section 1(2)(d) as one of the institutions that is required to rename a campus street after Kirk.
The bill states that Daytona State College must rename Pinecrest Avenue as “Charlie James Kirk Avenue” upon becoming law or face the loss of state funding.
According to DSC , in 2023 the Florida Legislature and Governor Ron DeSantis approved $9.25 million in state funding for new facilities, safety upgrades, and academic improvements. This is just one example of the kind of state funding that could be at risk if DSC refuses to comply with the proposed changes to Pinecrest Avenue.
Yet, the decision to choose Pinecrest Avenue, one of the college’s main entry roads, makes the proposed renaming feel purposeful and targeted.
For many students at DSC, including myself, HB 113 and its proposed changes targeting institutions of higher education are quite alarming and a clear overreach by state legislators.
For Amelia Coronado, a member of DSC’s Democratic Club, the bill’s proposed changes to colleges like DSC came as a surprise.
“When I first read the bill, I was dumbfounded on how a state legislator could try and require dozens of public institutions to rename roads after a single individual, especially one who is not a historic figure or public servant or even a politician in the state of Florida,” Coronado said.
While it’s undeniable that Kirk was a victim of gun violence, a fact I acknowledge and condemn, it’s equally imperative not to forget the harmful rhetoric Kirk spread about higher education and minority groups during his time with Turning Point USA.
Kirk, a college dropout, told women who attended Turning Point USA’s Young Women’s Leadership Summit earlier this year that their top priority should be getting married and having kids instead of pursing a degree.
During the Summit, a 14-year-old girl mentioned to Kirk directly her aspirations for a career in political journalism and her desire to attend college.
When asked to weigh in on the pros and cons of attending college by the young girl, Kirk said, “I think there is an argument to bring back the Mrs. Degree and, no seriously, and just to be clear that’s why you’re going to college.” Kirk also added, “We should bring back the celebration of the Mrs. Degree.”
The term, “Mrs. Degree” is often used to trivialize women’s academic pursuits by implying their true aim was marriage, a term reflective in sexist ideology and one I find immensely derogatory.
Earlier this year Kirk also posted a snippet of a podcast on TikTok where he said, “I think that we have gone wrong here, that women should prioritize family and children way above career.”
During the 2024-2025 academic year, women made up 57% of Daytona State College’s student population. It would be disheartening for the Florida legislature to force not only Daytona State College, but the rest of the colleges and universities named in the bill to rename streets in honor of someone who believed and advocated for women to settle down and have children instead of pursing a degree of their choice.
It is also important to note Kirk’s beliefs concerning colleges and universities and those pursuing higher education.
In an op-ed published by Fox News in 2022, Kirk wrote, “Further, universities are indoctrination zones where free speech is crushed.” Kirk added, “Universities used to open students’ minds and widen their horizons. Today universities weld minds shut. Radical students and faculty coerce and persecute their nonconforming peers through ‘cancel culture’ and threats.”
However, I would say that the coercions and threats have been more prominent in the last couple of weeks from Florida Republicans such as Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman, and Rep. Steele.
Both State legislators, who in the last couple of weeks, have filed bills that target colleges and universities in Florida.
Representative Steele’s proposed bill (HB 113) threatens Florida colleges and universities to comply with his proposed street redesignations by weaponizing state funds.
For Coronado, using state funds as a scare tactic for compliance only makes this bill more alarming, “In my opinion House Bill 113 sets a dangerous precedent for future legislation in Florida to either reward allies or punish dissent.”
Forcing colleges and universities to rename streets in Charlie Kirk’s name is not only an ideological overreach, but it’s also ironic. HB 113 ignores the reality that Kirk devoted his career to discrediting higher education and spreading harmful ideas about those pursuing a degree.
“Naming a public infrastructure is a powerful and symbolic act. It reflects values, history, and collective memory,” said Coronado.
HB 113 is not just about Kirk, it is an attempt by the GOP to further infiltrate public institutions, such as colleges and universities.
“What’s to say that legislatures will stop at roads, if naming roads is politicized, what’s next? Curriculum, hiring, research funding,” Coronado said.
Renaming streets to honor Kirk would not only undermine the integrity and aspirations of the students attending colleges all across Florida, but the bill forces colleges to platform harmful ideas.