"University of Tennessee System leaders could be called to testify in the federal suit filed Oct. 29 by assistant professor of cultural anthropology Tamar Shirinian and her attorney, Robb Bigelow. Shirinian asserts the university and UT System violated her First Amendment free speech rights and is applying a double standard in its plans to fire her. "I was frankly shocked by the university's actions against me," Shirinian told Knox News on Dec. 5. "I don't understand how they could possibly justify terminating a faculty member for expressing her own private opinions in her own private life.""
"The outrage stems from her comment on a Facebook friend's post that "the world is better without [Charlie Kirk] in it." To be honest, handing out posthumous scumbag designations just seems like honoring Charlie's legacy, but what do I know. The facts seem to skew heavily in Shirinian's favor. She and her lawyer rightly pointed out that University of Tennessee professor Glenn Reynolds posted "Run them down" under a video of protestors back in 2019 and was able to keep his job."
Tamar Shirinian, an assistant professor of cultural anthropology, filed a federal suit claiming the University of Tennessee and UT System violated her First Amendment rights and applied a double standard in moving to fire her for a private Facebook comment about Charlie Kirk’s death. University leaders may be called to testify in the suit. Shirinian described being shocked and unable to understand how terminating a faculty member for private opinions could be justified. Observers note precedent in which a UT professor who posted “Run them down” during 2019 protests kept his job, suggesting inconsistent enforcement and significant implications for public university speech policies.
Read at Above the Law
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