University of Tennessee Pays $1.9 Million to Professor Fired for Post Celebrating Charlie Kirk's Assassination

The Facts

Tamar Shirinian was an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville when Charlie Kirk was fatally shot at a university event in Utah in September 2025. In the aftermath, she posted on what she described as a private Facebook account: "The world is better off without him in it."

She went further. She wrote that Kirk was a "disgusting psychopath," that his children were better off without him, and that his wife was a "sick f#k" for marrying him.

Someone forwarded the post to a state legislator who had been vocal about punishing academics critical of Kirk. Within days, UT Chancellor Donde Plowman opened termination proceedings. Plowman finalized the firing in February 2026, according to the UT Daily Beacon.

Shirinian filed a federal lawsuit on October 29, 2025, naming the chancellor, the state university system president, and the faculty senate president. Her claim: the university retaliated against protected speech in violation of the First Amendment.

The Settlement

The Board of Trustees Audit and Compliance Committee approved the $1.9 million settlement in a nonpublic session following its annual meeting on June 29, according to the UT Daily Beacon. Board Chair John Compton explained the calculus plainly at Monday's meeting: "Any continuing litigation would require significant time and attention, and financial resources" that would be better spent on the university's mission.

Shirinian's attorney, Robb Bigelow, called it a "mutually acceptable resolution" that "recognizes the seriousness of the issues, while avoiding the time, expense and stress of continued litigation."

The settlement does NOT reinstate her. Despite stating repeatedly during the litigation that she wanted to return to the classroom, Shirinian gets the money and no job back.

Before any check clears, Governor Bill Lee and Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti must sign off, according to the UT Daily Beacon.

Not an Isolated Case

Shirinian's case is part of a wave. A Reuters investigation cited in Washington Post reporting found more than 600 people across the country were suspended, fired, disciplined, or investigated following Kirk's assassination for comments they made about it.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression has tracked at least 17 cases involving individuals penalized specifically for comments about Kirk. At least seven have already been settled, according to Ground News.

The University of Tennessee is not even the only Tennessee institution writing checks. Austin Peay State University reinstated professor Darren Michael in January 2026 and paid him $500,000 after firing him for a similar post, according to the UT Daily Beacon.

The Legitimate Tension Here

The strongest argument against the settlement isn't that Shirinian didn't have rights. It's that celebrating a man's murder, however odious his views, is different in kind from political criticism. Many people across the ideological spectrum believe that publicly wishing someone dead, calling their spouse a "sick f#k," and expressing indifference to their children's grief crosses a line that has nothing to do with academic freedom and everything to do with basic professional conduct. University employers aren't governments, but public universities operate under First Amendment constraints that private employers don't. That's the legal exposure UT was facing.

The counter is equally concrete. Courts have consistently held that government employees, including public university professors, retain First Amendment protection for speech on matters of public concern, even speech that is offensive, even speech made on a "private" social media account that someone else chose to forward to a politician. Shirinian wasn't speaking in a classroom or representing the university; she was posting on her own account. Whether her specific comments clear the "public concern" threshold is exactly what the lawsuit would have tested. UT apparently calculated $1.9 million was cheaper than finding out.

What It Costs Tennessee Taxpayers

This is public money. The University of Tennessee is a state institution. The $1.9 million comes from Tennessee taxpayers, not from a private insurer writing off a bad bet. Combined with Austin Peay's $500,000 payout and whatever other settlements are pending in the 17-plus tracked cases, the post-Kirk-assassination legal tab for Tennessee public universities is already well north of $2 million and climbing.

The Gateway Pundit framed the story as "Tennessee Taxpayers to Pay $1.9 Million Settlement to Fired Professor Who Celebrated Charlie Kirk's Assassination." That framing is adversarial, but on the core financial fact, it is accurate.

What Happens Next

The settlement cannot be finalized without approval from Governor Lee and AG Skrmetti. Neither has publicly stated a position as of July 1, 2026. If either declines to approve, the litigation resumes. If they sign off, the case is closed. Shirinian will not be returning to the University of Tennessee faculty under any version of this deal.