University of Tennessee settles First Amendment lawsuit with fired professor

The University of Tennessee System Board of Trustees approved a $1.9 million settlement with former assistant anthropology professor Tamar Shirinian, ending a First Amendment lawsuit tied to her social-media criticism of Charlie Kirk. The deal still needed approval from Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, and it left Shirinian without reinstatement.

Shirinian was fired by the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in February 2026 after a Facebook post that said the “world is better off without [Kirk] in it” and a separate comment about Erika Kirk. UT had placed her on administrative leave and begun termination proceedings on Sept. 15, 2025, days after Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on Sept. 10, 2025. At UT Knoxville, Shirinian’s work focused on queer theory, feminist anthropology and transnational feminisms, fields that made her a visible figure in the university’s anthropology department.

Her lawsuit argued that UT violated her First Amendment rights. It also sought the identity of an unnamed donor after a redacted email obtained by Knox News described a threat to withdraw a $10 million gift to UT’s engineering department if Shirinian was not fired. The donor pressure claim widened the dispute beyond one professor’s post and into the question of how public universities weigh speech, fundraising and administrative risk when online comments draw political attention.

Board Chair John Compton said further litigation would consume time and financial resources better spent on the university’s mission. The settlement outcome reflected that calculation: UT paid to end the case, but did not restore Shirinian to her faculty post. Her attorney, Robb Bigelow, said she was pleased with the resolution.

The case now joins a growing list of campus discipline fights that have followed comments about Kirk’s killing. Austin Peay State University reached a $500,000 settlement and reinstated a professor in a separate case, while Ball State University settled with former staff member Suzanne Swierc for $225,000. Together, the cases are forcing public universities to reassess how quickly they move from public backlash to discipline, and how much legal exposure they face when faculty speech collides with donor influence and constitutional protections.