Campus Radicals: Union member tell-all, Dems back to DEI ways, more violent leftist threats on campus

Teachers unions largely stole the Campus Radicals show last week, dominating coverage in Fox News Digital's investigative series, which included a whistleblower tell-all from a current National Education Association (NEA) member. 

In other news, one blue state moved to reinstate DEI into the classroom, while a college Republican was threatened with death by a left-wing agitator on campus. 

"It's a very liberal place, there's only a handful of conservatives that work at NEA, and if you are, it's like you just don't say anything, because it's a very toxic environment if you do say something," an NEA employee, who is remaining anonymous due to concerns of retribution, told Fox News Digital. "It's crazy, they'll send out this weekly newsletter of ‘Trump's a fascist’ and blast it to all the states."

"It's a cult. It's 100% a cult and if you don't have their mindset, you're the enemy."

One of the nation’s most prominent teachers unions funneled millions of dollars in union funds to far-left activist groups, ballot initiatives and social justice organizations, according to federal labor filings.

The NEA, which boasts more than 3 million members, sent $300,000 to the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a liberal dark money group Fox News Digital has reported on extensively, and tens of thousands of dollars to the Tides Foundation network, which Fox News Digital previously reported has ties to anti-Israel protests and a variety of far left causes.

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Among the largest expenditures was more than $3.5 million sent to Education International, a global teachers federation where NEA President Becky Pringle serves as a vice president. The filing also details hundreds of thousands of dollars flowing to organizations backing ballot initiatives aimed at reshaping education policy and election laws in states, including Ohio, Massachusetts, Arizona and Wisconsin.

A union watchdog organization has filed a lawsuit in tandem with a Utah teacher alleging that the Utah Education Association (UEA) falsely claimed on multiple occasions that members' dues are not used to fund political activities.

The UEA is the state affiliate of America's largest teachers union, the NEA. Cole Kelley, a 29-year teacher and Republican member of the Utah State Board of Education, is a co-plaintiff, along with the Freedom Foundation, which says it works to liberate public employees from political exploitation via various means, including litigation.

The lawsuit, filed in Utah’s 3rd District Court, alleges that the UEA made false statements on its website and social media claiming that "UEA member dues are never used for political activities."

"I think that it's time for the UEA to tell the teachers in Utah the truth about what they do, what they represent, what they stand for, what they're advocating for," said Kelley, adding that the union's politics are clearly left-leaning.

"And I think it's important for teachers to understand that when you join, your dollars are going towards supporting these political activities," he said.

A course offered by the University of Maryland for the 2026 spring semester is sparking outrage from experts, including two who told Fox News Digital it represents "identity politics" getting in the way of proper education. 

"This course provides a comprehensive foundation of how colonial legacies continue to shape global health systems and medical practices," the University of Maryland website says about the class called "Decolonizing Medicine: Steps to Actionable Change," first reported by College Fix. 

The course description continues, "We will critically engage with the concept of 'the White body' as the standard in medical training, explore the consequences of the historical context underpinning colonial medicine, and interrogate neocolonial dynamics in contemporary global health efforts. Designed for students interested in careers in medicine, public health, or health policy, this course will challenge students to rethink the ethical and epistemological frameworks that underlie modern healthcare."

Trita Parsi, a controversial figure among the Iranian American community, was scheduled to speak at an event hosted by the John Quincy Adams Society at Yale University on Thursday, sparking concerns as tensions in Iran continue to rise.

Shay Khatiri, a senior fellow at the Yorktown Institute, grew up in Northern Iran and spent time living in the nation’s capital of Tehran. Khatiri did not hold back when discussing his view on Parsi’s messaging, telling Fox News Digital the Yale chapter’s speaker faced accusations of lobbying for policies that benefitted the regime. 

"[Parsi] founded this group called the National Iranian American Council, NIAC," Khatiri explained. "That was really a lobbying group to promote lifting sanctions and what would eventually become the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or the Iran nuclear deal that President Obama reached with the Islamic Republic of Iran."

As Democrats retake control of the Virginia legislature and governor's mansion, a flurry of far-left bills has been introduced to begin the legislative session, including one that would enshrine DEI in the classroom into law.

HB 614, titled "History and social science standards and instruction; historically marginalized communities," was filed on Jan. 13, a day before the session even began, by Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke.

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The bill seeks to "ensure comprehensive, accurate, and inclusive education" for elementary and secondary school children, according to its summary. To fulfill that goal, the bill mandates instructional materials and standards in history and social science courses that include "contributions, perspectives, and experiences of historically marginalized communities."

A conservative student at the University of Utah who says a far-left agitator threatened to shoot him in the neck at a tabling event slammed college campuses as a breeding ground for radicalism and celebrated the arrest of the alleged perpetrator.

"It was January 12, we were outside tabling and engaging in debates in a format similar to those organized by, let's say, Turning Point USA," Riley Beesley told Fox News Digital. The event was hosted by Reawaken USA, a relatively new conservative group that tours college campuses, inviting students to have an open dialogue.

Beesley is a student at the University of Utah, and the vice chairman of the Utah Federation of College Republicans.

"And soon after [he] declared to us, 'you should die,' followed by, 'I am going to Kirk you,' which you could only think that means I'm either using your imagination going to shoot you or kill you," said Beesley.

"As he walked off, he positioned himself directly in front of several campus police officers where he gestured with his arms in a manner mimicking aiming a rifle at us, thrusting them enthusiastically, as I'd say, while shouting, 'you should die' and calling us 'Nazi pigs,'" he continued, adding that the police watched the incident unfold.

Fox News Digital's Andrew Mark Miller and Preston Mizell contributed to this report.