Shirinian v. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Summary

On October 29, 2025, Tamar Shirinian, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, filed a federal lawsuit against the university, the University of Tennessee System, President Randy Boyd, Chancellor Donde Plowman, and Faculty Senate President Charles Noble. Shirinian sought reinstatement, back pay, damages, and attorneys’ fees, alleging that the university violated her First Amendment rights by placing her on administrative leave and initiating termination proceedings after she made a controversial personal social media comment following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. She argued that the university’s actions constituted viewpoint discrimination, selective enforcement, and political retaliation.

The controversy began on September 12, 2025, when Shirinian commented on a friend’s personal Facebook post that the world was better off without Kirk and criticized Kirk and his wife in highly inflammatory terms. Conservative activist Robby Starbuck later shared a screenshot of the comment on X, prompting widespread criticism and calls for the university to discipline her. The University of Tennessee Knoxville placed Shirinian on administrative leave with pay on September 15, 2025, and began termination proceedings, citing faculty conduct standards and concerns about disruption to university operations.

Shirinian acknowledged that the post was inappropriate but argued that it was made in her personal capacity, unrelated to her university duties, and protected by the First Amendment. She argued that the university had applied its policies inconsistently, pointing to other instances of controversial speech by faculty members that did not result in similar discipline. She also argued that the university’s response created a chilling effect on faculty speech and academic freedom. The university maintained that the comment caused significant disruption and that its interests in maintaining institutional operations outweighed Shirinian’s speech rights as a public employee.

Following her suspension, Shirinian issued an apology expressing regret for the language she used. The University of Tennessee Faculty Senate later passed a resolution calling on university leaders to reaffirm commitments to academic freedom and free expression.

On December 18, 2025, a federal judge denied Shirinian’s request for preliminary relief seeking to halt termination proceedings and allow her to return to teaching. The court found that her comment was not protected “core political speech” because it targeted Kirk personally rather than his political views and concluded that the university’s interests outweighed her First Amendment claims. Shirinian remained on administrative leave while the litigation continued.

The university terminated Shirinian’s employment on February 11, 2026. The case was scheduled for trial to begin in January 2027, but the parties reached a settlement on June 28, 2026, with the University of Tennessee System Board of Trustees approving a $1.9 million payment to resolve the lawsuit. Under the agreement, Shirinian was not reinstated to her faculty position, and the settlement brought the litigation to an end. The case drew national attention as a First Amendment dispute over the limits of public universities’ authority to discipline faculty members for controversial personal speech involving political issues and public figures.