Bowdoin College: College puts student on probation for satirical email

On September 14, 2025, Bowdoin student Finley Rhys replied to Bowdoin Conservatives’ invitation to a vigil commemorating Charlie Kirk with, “RIP to bro 😿.” The students who received the response reported it to campus security, claiming the email was “a direct threat to [their] life.” The college investigated Rhys, alleging he threatened the students. On November 18, FIRE wrote Bowdoin, explaining that the college could not punish Rhys’s email because his reply did not come close to expressing serious intent to commit any act (let alone a violent one) against the students. On November 24, the college found Rhys responsible for the charge. Rhys intends to appeal.