In an interview with The Daily Beacon, Tamar Shirinian expressed concern over the direction in which her termination case has gone.
UT Chancellor Donde Plowman sent an official letter of termination to Shirinian on Feb. 11 after months of the former anthropology professor being on administrative leave with pay.
“She was the one who considered and consulted with herself about whether to terminate me or not,” Shirinian said. “Now she’s the one who is also executing the termination, and, funnily enough, she is also going to be the one who has veto power over the appeal process.”
Shirinian faced termination proceedings initiated by Plowman Sept. 15 after commenting online about Charlie Kirk’s assassination, saying “the world is better off without him in it.” The comment surfaced online Sept. 14, drawing the attention of state politicians and the UT community.
Shirinian has since filed a complaint against Chancellor Plowman, President Randy Boyd and Faculty Senate President Charles Noble in both their personal and official capacities.
Since September, Shirinian has denied accusations of her comment celebrating murder or violence.
“Even before I was an adult, I was a peace activist,” Shirinian said. “The idea that I’m celebrating violence is absurd to me. My comment was purely about his presence in political discourse.”
Before sending the official letter of termination, Plowman sent a letter requesting to meet with Shirinian one-on-one to discuss the status of her termination. Plowman held a firm stance against reinstatement in her deposition in early January, Shirinian said.
“She openly stated under oath that she would never consider reinstating me,” Shirinian said. “The whole point of her wanting to meet with me was to basically take back testimony that she had made under oath.”
According to Shirinian, Plowman expressed a willingness to hear her out in the letter.
“I was very well aware of the fact that there was never an open mind,” Shirinian said. “This is very clearly political pressure coming from above. She had to terminate me.”
The Tennessee legislature passed a bill Monday, March 23, that streamlines the faculty termination process, delegating the power to terminate tenure and non-tenure faculty to the chief executive officer or the chief academic officer of an institution.
“They don’t want to actually abide by law. They want to keep doing what they’re doing, but they also don’t want to get sued,” Shirinian said. “So this is really frightening.”
Shirinian said what left her most shaken after reading the letter was Plowman’s reasoning to terminate her because she had become a target of violence.
“The antagonizing tenor of your words makes you a target for potential retributive violence that could put our students and faculty in harm’s way, as well as irreparably damage the public’s trust in our university,” Plowman said. “I have a responsibility to minimize any such risks.”
Though Shirinian claimed to have never received official death threats, she and the university received emails demanding her termination after her comment surfaced.
“They are claiming that as the target of violence, I should be punished,” Shirinian said. “The university really should press charges against the person who is committing that crime, not against the person who is receiving death threats.”
Despite the chancellor’s decision, Shirinian is continuing with the lawsuit and the university appeal process. Shirinian’s trial date is set for Jan. 19, 2027.
“I am going forward because this is not about me,” Shirinian said. “This is about free speech.”
The university has not yet responded to a request for comment.
