The University of Utah has apologized and rescinded its investigations into two Republican students accused of doxxing another student after she posed with a cake joking about the anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s death.

A photo shared on social media last week of the student with the cake sparked a wave of attention that led to the student’s personal information being shared widely online.

The U. was investigating two students, Riley Beesley, chairman of the Utah College Republicans, and Rylie Barnes, vice president of the U.’s chapter of College Republicans, for allegedly starting the thread where the student was doxxed.

On Thursday, both Beesley and Barnes posted on X that their cases had been dismissed.

On her account, Barnes shared a copy of the letter she received from Jason Ramirez, the U.’s associate vice president and dean of students.

In that, Ramirez said he had reviewed her case and the information that led to her being “charged under university policy.” Based on the review, Ramirez wrote that he did not believe there was enough evidence to charge Barnes and would be “formally dismissing the case” against her.

Ramirez also wrote that he could “imagine that this news is both relieving and frustrating.” He promised to review university processes and train staff on freedom of speech to “ensure that this doesn’t occur in the future.”

“I apologize for the inconvenience and emotional turmoil that this has caused you,” Ramirez wrote.

The U. also released a statement Thursday, saying, “Normally, student discipline is a private process.” But the university provided an update on the cases because “the students themselves decided to go public.” The school called the cases an “accountability inquiry.”

Two days earlier, Beesley and Barnes had shared on X that they received nearly identical emails from the university asking them to meet with administrators about a report that they had allegedly attempted to doxx another student over a “political issue.”

“The University of Utah wants to EXPEL us over ‘threatening or endangering behavior,’” Barnes and Beesley each posted Tuesday, attaching portions of emails they received from the university.

The emails, however, do not say whether the students face expulsion. Instead, the emails ask the students to “meet” so administrators could “hear your perspective.”

The U. confirmed in its statement Thursday, “Neither student faced expulsion for their social media posts.” The school launched an investigation, the statement said, after receiving anonymous complaints against Barnes and Beesley concerning electronic harassment.

The school added, “The University of Utah is required to investigate allegations of threatening or harassing behavior — even in online or social media posts. ... The letters sent this week to Barnes and Beesley were routine notifications of the claims and sought to set up meetings with staff to discuss the allegations.”

The controversy began late last week after a photo of a student holding a cake declaring “Happy Kirkiversary” in red frosting was posted online Thursday, one year after Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University.

Members of the U.’s College Republicans group said they had been tabling on campus when the student approached them with the cake. Barnes then posted a photo of the student holding it on her X account.

“What is wrong with students in Utah??” Barnes wrote. She did not include any personal information about the student in the original Thursday post, though the student’s face was visible.

Beesley has since added that none of the posts sharing personal information about the student were shared by members of the Utah College Republicans.

The next day, a popular account called “Aesthetica,” which often posts about conservative politics, used Barnes’ photo of the student and posted personal information about the photographed student and her family.

Conservative commentators, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, then also shared the student’s personal information online, leading to alleged threats against her and her family.

The student with the cake later apologized, but the dispute continued to spin out, drawing a response from the U. and campus police. It also prompted a small protest Wednesday at the U.’s Marriott Library organized by a group of Democratic students.

The school’s College Democrats of the University of Utah club said the student with the cake has been “unable to go to campus and [is] scared for her family’s safety.” That group has condemned the doxxing.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, also weighed in Tuesday in an X post in defense of the College Republicans. Lee called it “unbelievably absurd” and “stranger than fiction” that they were reported for university discipline.

Beesley has said that he and Barnes were the only students he was aware of who received emails from the university. He said the university’s emails to the College Republican members were “wrong and an attempt to silence Republican voices.”

Beesley was also separately being investigated by the U. for posts outside of the student with the cake. He was anonymously reported this week, as well, for allegedly making posts a year ago doxxing another U. student, who started the College Democrats club. At that time, Beesley reposted that student’s remarks about Kirk, with his name and a photo of him and the message, “MAKE HIM FAMOUS.”

On Thursday, he told The Salt Lake Tribune that he was disappointed the U. had even opened a case against him.

“There’s no real, true solid evidence of the claim that was being alleged that we were doxxing anyone,” he said. “I don’t believe in doxxing. I condemn it in all forms.”

He said characterizing his old posts about the other student as doxxing is “foolish.”

“I don’t know in what world ever reposting or discussing someone public’s tweet would be deemed doxxing,” he said.

He thanked Kirk’s wife, Erika, for supporting him and Barnes in their fight. He also applauded conservative influencer Nick Sortor and Jake Lee, a Salt Lake City attorney with the global law firm Dentons, for providing “expert legal services,” according to a post on X.

Sortor similarly thanked Erika Kirk in a post on X, saying she had hired “TREMENDOUS lawyers” for the students on short notice.

In his call with The Tribune, Beesley said, “I’m just glad the university was able to find some common sense here.”