When UT placed assistant professor Tamar Shirinian on administrative leave in September, a void appeared in her classroom.

The university is actively pursuing the termination of Shirinian as a result of comments she made online regarding the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

Anthropology majors Emrys Peterson, junior, and Kaelin Jones, senior, both took ANTH 426: Decolonization with Shirinian in the fall 2025 semester.

“I thought that she was a very knowledgeable professor,” Jones said. “She knew a lot about what she was talking about. The class that I was taking with her was a special topics class, so it was a topic that she had chosen to teach, and it followed a lot with her own personal research in her field.”

Peterson had similar thoughts as Jones.

“From the brief time that we got with her, I thought that she was very articulate, and when it came to how she taught, she always made sure to make sure that us as students understood what was going on,” Peterson said. “After the first few classes, we were all very comfortable.”

Less than a month after classes began, Chancellor Donde Plowman placed Shirinian on administrative leave, abruptly cutting their time with her short.

“After the investigation started, we had the department head come in,” Jones said. “She had explained the situation to us. She told us that we likely wouldn’t have class that following Thursday, and that she was looking for a new professor for us.”

The sudden change left students unsure how the semester would proceed or what it meant for their schedules.

“I had meticulously planned out my next few semesters, and I wasn’t sure if this class was going to fall through,” Peterson said.

They worried for more than just themselves. Peterson said that she broke down hearing the news and its implications.

“I had seen the outrage when it blew up the internet over that weekend, so when Monday came along, I was already stressing about it because I didn’t want anything to happen to her. I was worried regardless of what the university did. I was worried that someone was going to make efforts to harm her or her family,” Peterson said.

“We have a great responsibility as educators of America’s future leaders to make sure students have a healthy educational environment in which to learn, wrestle with difficult issues and express themselves civilly. We take that responsibility seriously,” UT said in a campus update Sept. 15.

Despite the controversy, both Peterson and Jones described their classroom experience with Shirinian as being comfortable and open in terms of discussion.

“It was all very casual. It was less like talking with a professor and more talking with a colleague or friend in a way. There were times where she was more professional about things, more serious topics, but it was all pretty casual. There was never like any high tensions with anyone in the class,” Jones said.

Students shared their opinions freely within the classroom, according to Jones and Peterson. Peterson said Shirinian’s teaching focused on providing information designed to prompt critical thinking.

“She never outwardly stated what her own political beliefs were, and she never let that guide the way that she taught, which I very much respected. It was very clear that she took the approach of, ‘I’m not trying to sway people to my viewpoint. I’m trying to inform my students so that they can make their own,’” Peterson said.

Both students said they understood the potential consequences of her social media comment once they saw it.

“I will also admit that having seen what she said and at the time, there could’ve been better execution. I still do believe that the event was blown out of proportion, very much so, but I can see from both sides why actions were taken,” Peterson said.

Jones echoed that sentiment.

“I was not too surprised by the decision that had been made. I did see the comment that Dr. Shirinian had left on social media and knowing how politics are in a southern state, I knew how it would reflect on her and, ultimately, how the termination would go,” Jones said.

Both students expressed respect and gratitude for their time together.

“I just want to say that Dr. Shirinian was extremely nice. She was open in the class and always encouraged us to be open in our discussions and to always voice our sides on what we were speaking on in class. … I would just like to thank her for her time that she put into being able to teach part of this class to us, at least,” Jones said.

Peterson shared that level of appreciation.

“She is an amazing professor, and I still believe that she’s an amazing person. More than that, she’s a very valuable member of the cultural anthropology community,” Peterson said.