The University of Tennessee System is investigating a comment from a social media account tied to an assistant professor at the flagship Knoxville campus following the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The comment posted under the name of the assistant anthropology professor was in response to a post about Kirk’s killing. “The world is better off without him in it,” the comment said. It also referred to Kirk with an expletive.
The comment was picked up by and shared Sept. 14 by conservative social media activist Robby Starbuck with his nearly 845,000 followers. He called for his followers to contact the university and UT System President Randy Boyd to ask them to “act now.”
Boyd took to social media – both his personal and UT System accounts – Sept. 15 to share a statement: “Celebrating or advocating violence and murder is reprehensible and has no place at the University of Tennessee. UT Knoxville is actively investigating the matter and will take decisive action to ensure it is addressed with the full weight and attention it deserves.”
A University of Tennessee at Knoxville spokeswoman told Knox News shortly before noon Sept. 15 that the university would provide an update on the situation soon.
Knox News couldn’t find the original post or comment on social media. Starbuck received the post in his direct messages, according to an X post he made Sept. 14. Knox News is not identifying the assistant professor without verification of who posted the comment.
Comment is not the first to lead to disciplinary action in Tennessee
Other faculty and staff members of Tennessee universities have been fired or suspended after posting on social media about Kirk’s murder. Last week, Middle Tennessee State University fired an assistant dean and Cumberland University fired two employees. East Tennessee State University suspended two employees.
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn has been at the forefront of calling for the firing of university employees who criticized Kirk, reposting screenshots of comments and urging leadership at these universities to fire them. In the case of the UT assistant professor, both Blackburn and U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett have weighed in.
“Another lunatic, left-wing radical who should be fired immediately,” Blackburn posted at Sept. 14. Around the same time, Burchett responded to users saying he’s “on it” and that he “already delivered the message.”
Other social media users have commented and shared the post by Starbuck calling on the university to fire the assistant professor, with some employing homophobic and racist rhetoric and calling the professor “demonic” or “evil.”
Social media users have unearthed and publicized criticism of Kirk
The professor’s comment was under a post from another user about unfollowing people who were critical of Kirk after he was killed. Kirk was the founder of Turning Point USA, a conservative political nonprofit that focues on mobilizing college students.
“The world is better off without him in it. Even those who are claiming to be sad for his wife and kids …. like, his kids are better off living in a world without a disgusting psychopath like him and his wife, well, she’s a sick fuck for marrying him so I dont care about her feelings,” according to the screenshot from Starbuck of the comment.
It’s the latest round of social media users taking it on themselves to find people who made disparaging comments about Kirk, report it to their place of work and then celebrate when the person is fired.
Keenan Thomas is the higher education reporter for Knox News. Email keenan.thomas@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter @specialk2real.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Charlie Kirk post spurs investigation of University of Tennessee professor
