On September 18, 2025, Emory University dismissed Anna Kenney, an associate professor, at the university’s school of medicine, in response to social media posts that she made about the murdered political activist Charlie Kirk.

Kirk was killed on September 10, 2025. Later that day, Kenny, a non-tenured member of the medical school’s faculty, posted two comments on a friend’s Facebook post about the assassination. In one comment, she wrote “Should I feel bad that I don’t feel bad about Charlie Kirk? Reading his sayings, he seems like a disgusting individual. He said gay people deserve to die. That black women have ‘slow processing brains’. His teachers would have been my generation. Disgusting messaging. Sad for his wife and kids.” In the other comment, she wrote “Good riddance.” While Kenney’s own Facebook profile was private, the post that she commented on was set as public, meaning – unbeknownst to Kenney – so were her comments.

On September 12, an activist social media account posted to X a picture of Kenney’s comments with a screenshot from Kenney’s Facebook page listing her personal details, including her employment history. The post also had a picture of Kenny holding up a glass at Longhorn Steakhouse while at dinner with her husband. While the picture was taken the day before Kirk’s killing, the X post stated, “Meet Anna Kenney. Here she celebrates Charlie Kirk being murdered, and attempts to justify his murder. She is an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at @EmoryMedicine.” The post was viewed by more than 4 million people, including US Representative Buddy Carter, who represents Savannah, Georgia. Carter reposted the X post, demanding that Emory fire Kenney, stating “ENOUGH. It’s time to stand up to dangerous, radical hate. Our federal government shouldn’t be sending hundreds of millions to places that employ people who say this. Either hate-filled professors like this are fired, or those funds are GONE.” Likewise, US Representative Derrick Van Orden, from Wisconsin, posted that, “I will be looking into freezing every single contract[ t]he federal government has with this institution [i.e., Emory] until this is dealt with. We’re not gonna be supporting anybody that is OK with domestic terrorism.”Kenny also received targeted threats, including, for instance, a text with photos of her home, saying, “Sleep tight professor. Good riddance.”

On September 15, an Emory University official circulated a statement about Kirk’s killing that included commentary on Kenney’s post. It stated, “We are aware of the recent post connected to an Emory faculty member and understand that it has raised concerns among our colleagues and communities. Please know that we are actively looking into the situation…Throughout Woodruff Health Sciences, we value free speech and respectful disagreement. We believe that having diversity of perspectives enriches our
community. However, let me be clear: any celebration or incitement of violence, including on social media, is not acceptable under any circumstances and is inconsistent with our values.”

On September 17, the chair of Kenney’s department wrote to inform her that her position had been terminated. The letter stated that the university had reviewed Kenney’s social media posts and accused her of violating “Emory’s conduct expectations and applicable policies, including but not limited to its Standards of Conduct Policy and social media guidance.”

On September 18, Noëlle McAfee, the president of the Emory University Senate, announced that the University Senate’s Committee for Open Expression would look into Kenney’s dismissal. In a report released on September 23, the committee issued a preliminary judgment that Kenney’s dismissal violated the university’s Open Expression Policy. The committee confirmed that judgement in a final report released on October 21, stating that most reasons given by Emory for dismissing Kenney were inconsistent with the university’s Open Expression Policy. The committee further determined that Emory had not followed proper disciplinary procedures in firing Kenney by apparently failing to consider the university’s Open Expression Policy (which is not mentioned in Kenney’s dismissal letter) as required.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about the dismissal of a faculty member, apparently without due process and in response to outside pressure, over private public commentary on a matter of public concern. 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. SAR is also concerned about elected officials using their positions to threaten retaliation against a higher education institution unless the institution violates the rights of an individual, in this case by firing a faculty member for private expression. While elected officials have the right to express their opinions, they also have a responsibility to refrain from using their positions to threaten or otherwise intrude on the autonomy of higher education institutions to manage their operations. Such actions undermine academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and democratic society generally.

Sources:
https://www.emorywheel.com/article/2025/09/emory-fires-professor-for-social-media-posts-in-wake-of-kirk-assassination
https://www.emorywheel.com/article/2025/10/committee-for-open-expression-finds-emory-violated-policy-in-professor-termination
https://www.ajc.com/news/2025/10/fired-for-kirk-posts-former-emory-professor-weighs-cost-of-free-speech/
https://med.emory.edu/about/_files/dean-message-sept-18-2025-2025-09-18-08_01am-export.html
https://campus-speech.law.duke.edu/campus-speech-incidents/emory-university-firing-of-anna-kenney-charlie-kirk/
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yzvL2tlkZbFEgBmCHxpz9Au5h-DLCmBs/view
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q6HrRWCLzEQi6Lf-FhXB5zi5PhInuidD/view