During the Red Scare in the 1950s, U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy claimed he had a list of employees working for the U.S State Department who had loyalties to the Soviet Union. During the Cold War, as the anti-communist movement heightened, McCarthy capitalized on hearsay and utilized intimidation tactics to accuse government officials of communist ties. 

In 2025 online exists a vast list of college professors all over the country who remain under Turning Point USA’s surveillance. Although the professor watchlist website claims the organization advances free speech, databases like these hinder professors’ free speech and may falsely characterize their language. First Amendment experts say lists like these feel similar to the Red Scare. 

“It’s a mischaracterization by trying to accuse me of hate, by trying to accuse me of attempting to spread discord and deceit and a mischaracterization around how I am seeking opportunities to enhance learning spaces for all people by paying attention to those who have been most marginalized within these spaces,” said an Illinois professor on the watchlist. 

They wish to remain anonymous out of concern for their personal safety and the safety of their family members, colleagues and students. The professor began receiving threats following their appearance on the watchlist two years ago, which were not only directed at them, but towards those who are indirectly related as well. The database is intended to “unmask” college professors. Prior to being placed on the list, they had never heard of it. 

The professor studies critical race theory and works to understand how race and racism interacts in higher education, and how those environments are constructed. 

Originating in 2016, Professor Watchlist is a project of Turning Point USA, a nonprofit political organization that promotes conservative principles. The founder of TPUSA, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated on Sept. 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University. According to its website, the mission of the watchlist is to expose professors who discriminate against conservative students. The website states they compile a list of professors who advance leftist propaganda in the classroom.

The professor has consistently received threats since being added to the growing list of academics being monitored by TPUSA. 

“I’ve received an anonymous email from an untraceable source that has called me all kinds of vulgar and obscene names. I’ve had people stalk my social media and by virtue of stalking my social media, reach out to family members and colleagues saying things like, ‘I should die because of the work that I am doing,’” they said. 

They added that during a heightened period of threats, people attempted to break into their home. 

“My work challenges that notion to say that everyone is capable. We have systems and structures that are put into place that favor and privilege some, while oppressing others and causing more challenges and harm,” they said. 

Inside the watchlist, each professor has their own profile with a headshot, their corresponding institution and tags. These tags give their research topics a distorted label. They include categories like anti-First Amendment, climate alarmist, LGBTQ, anti-law enforcement and COVID-19 among others. Under the profiles a description is provided of the professor’s research and how it advances the claimed leftist propaganda. Often, screenshots of social media posts are placed into the descriptions.  

At the top of the page lies the long list of tags. Users of the site have the option to search by institution, name or by the assigned tags. Additionally, a donate option is available and an option to submit a tip. In order to submit a tip, however, a user has to leave their name, contact information and explain how the professor is biased. Under some profiles are links leading to publications or various news agencies as sourcing for the brief descriptions. Others have a request to send more information on the professor to TPUSA.  

Currently 54 Illinois professors and 19 Illinois institutions remain in the watchlist’s database. Among the 19 include public, private and community colleges. Northwestern University has 15 professors, making it the largest number from one school in Illinois. 

“If we truly want to be the nation that we’re claiming to be, we can’t say, ‘we the people’ if populations of people are continuously oppressed and marginalized. We can’t say that we’re trying to establish a more perfect union if we are regressing in our policies and practices,” the professor said. 

William Frievogel is a journalism professor at SIU and the publisher of the Gateway Journalism Review. Frievogel previously worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where he was a member of the Washington bureau for 12 years. Frievogel covered the Supreme Court and served as the assistant bureau chief. 

“A list of people whose speech is disfavored; it doesn’t seem to fit in very well with free and open and robust free speech,” Frievogel said. “It reminds me of what we called blacklists of writers and actors during the Red Scare of the McCarthy period.” 

Frievogel leads a project that’s funded by the Pulitzer Center reporting on the status of the First Amendment within today’s political climate. 

“I’m concerned about chilling speech, people being intimidated to say what they think,” Frievogel said. 

A chilling effect on free speech causes people to reduce their speech from an organization’s outside pressures. In response to fear of being punished or reprimanded, exercising protected speech is often suspended even though the law technically prevents that from happening. 

Because of threats the professor has received, they stated they have to be more intentional when choosing where they go, what they do and who they do it with. While being aware of their surroundings, they still remain true to themselves. 

“It’s disheartening just to know that in 2025, we’re having to live in the space where by virtue of being me and by virtue of trying to support other people like me, I am demonized and I am positioned in ways that could threaten not just my professional livelihood, but my physical livelihood,” they said. 

The Daily Egyptian sent an email to SIU’s TPUSA chapter president for an interview regarding free speech, but he declined before publishing. 

“I also remember that President Nixon, before he was forced out of office, had an enemies list. So these kinds of lists of people who you shouldn’t be associated with are certainly not conducive to the kind of free debate that Charlie Kirk himself often favored,” Frievogel said. 

Despite the watchlist claiming it grants free speech, the surveilling attempts to censor academics. The looming watchlist has not stopped or halted any of the Illinois professor’s research. They continue despite the threats they’ve received to advocate for all to come in the future.  

“I know that my ancestors went through trials and tribulations to grant access for me,” they said. “I need to ensure the future generations don’t have to endure the same things that I or others have endured.”

MingQing Xiao is the only SIU professor on the watchlist. Xiao’s tag is corruption. In early 2022, he was found guilty for incorrectly filing his taxes in addition to not reporting a foreign bank account. Xiao was sentenced to one year probation. 

“We can have differences, but I don’t think it should be as hard to have a productive conversation as it is right now,”  said Sinaya Cecil, a freshman at SIU from Texas. “I’m used to treading lightly as far as like, commentary goes. I know there are certain people I can (talk to), but at the same time there’s people that you should be weary of. Yeah, but I feel like SIU’s pretty open on both sides of the topic as far as expressing those opinions.” 

Although the professor said the watchlist has misrepresented their work, they said they hope for a future where people can utilize America’s democracy and create change within systems like the watchlist. 

“It is my hope that rather than listening to the propaganda and believing the fear mongering that’s put out there, that the people are actually able to see the impact of folks who are making these hostile and violent decisions and how it’s negatively impacting everyone and make a change,” the professor said. 

Staff reporter Kristen Borchers can be reached at [email protected]

Advertisement