On September 12, 2025, Cumberland University announced that Professor of English and Creative Writing Michael Rex had been dismissed in response to social media posts that he made about the murdered political activist Charlie Kirk. A member of the university’s athletic staff also lost their position because of social media posts about Kirk.

Kirk was killed on September 10, 2025. Over the next day, Rex made several posts to his personal Facebook account commenting on the killing. He wrote, “Crying about a Nazi getting shot while staying silent about the school shooting in Colorado today is peak Republican” and “On Charlie Kirk: Thoughts and Prayers. Oh, And Kharma is a beautiful b***ch.” The following day, Rex posted an apology on his Facebook page, writing “No one deserves to be murdered. I did not think about the pain and anger that my words would create. My comments were not meant to celebrate nor to foster political violence and for any traums [sic] my words caused, I am truly sorry.”

Rex’s initial comments prompted several elected officials to publicly call for Rex’s dismissal. On September 11, Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn posted screenshots of Rex’s comments and his faculty profile picture, stating “This person should not be allowed within ten feet of university students – let alone allowed to instruct them.” She noted, “Mr. Rex has tried to walk these comments back, but the damage has been done.” On September 12, Rick Bell, the mayor of Lebanon, Tennessee, where Cumberland University is located, posted on Facebook, that his “pride for Cumberland” had “turned to shame with the words of eSport coach Max Wood and English professor Michael Rex.”

Two hours after Bell’s post, Cumberland University announced in a public statement that Rex had been dismissed. The university noted, “After a thorough and thoughtful review process, I would like to confirm that a member of our faculty, Dr. Michael Rex, and a member of our staff, Mr. Max Wood, both of whom made inappropriate comments on the internet related to the tragic shooting of Charlie Kirk, are no longer employed by the University. This decision was not made lightly. We understand the importance and impact of this action, and we want to emphasize that we conducted a comprehensive investigation prior to making our decision.”

While no details about Cumberland University’s investigation are publicly available, it appears that Rex’s dismissal occurred too quickly to have followed the university’s policies on dismissal for cause. The policy requires that the university issue faculty members a “Written Notice to Initiate Dismissal Proceedings.” Faculty members then have three business days to request either an informal resolution of the matter or a formal disciplinary proceeding. Faculty members may also agree to their dismissal. In this case, the dismissal is effective on the second business day after the three-day deadline to seek either informal or formal resolution of the case. Together, the speed of Rex’s dismissal and the comments by Blackburn and Bell give the impression that Cumberland University acquiesced to public pressure in firing Rex.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about the dismissal of a faculty member, apparently without due process and in anticipation of or in response to outside pressure, over personal public commentary outside of the university. In addition to academic freedom, academics should enjoy the full scope of freedom of expression as all other persons. Universities have a responsibility not to restrict the freedom of expression (free speech) of their employees when they speak as private citizens, and must refrain from retaliatory actions that punish, restrict, or chill such private expression. Disciplining academic staff for private expression undermines academic freedom and democratic society generally.

Sources:
https://www.wjhl.com/news/two-people-no-longer-employed-by-cumberland-university-after-making-comments-about-charlie-kirk-shooting/
https://tennesseestar.com/news/tennessee-colleges-fire-employees-over-social-media-posts-regarding-kirks-assassination/zschmidt/2025/09/15/
https://cbsaustin.com/news/nation-world/cumberland-university-professor-staff-member-no-longer-employed-online-comments-on-charlie-kirk-death-utah-valley-shooting-assassination
https://fox17.com/news/local/cumberland-professor-faces-disciplinary-action-after-social-posts-on-charlie-kirks-death-michael-rex-marsha-blackburn-president-stumb-national-news-tn-nashville-google-trends
https://campus-speech.law.duke.edu/campus-speech-incidents/cumberland-university-firing-of-faculty-and-staff-charlie-kirk/
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/academic-freedom/2025/09/12/6-more-faculty-staff-removed-kirk-comments
https://x.com/CumberlandU/status/1966523444251558156
https://cumberland.smartcatalogiq.com/en/2024-2025/university-policy/copy-of-human-resources/faculty-policies/discipline-and-termination-of-employment