Fiery chants filled the cold air Wednesday afternoon as University of Tennessee students and faculty rallied for free speech.
“Hey Plowman, hear our call, free speech rights are for us all,” protesters said.
The rally, organized by UT’s chapter of the United Campus Workers, started off with speeches at the Humanities and Social Sciences Plaza and ended with the delivery to the chancellor’s office of a petition to reinstate ousted UT assistant professor Tamar Shirinian.
Jacob Watkins, senior lecturer in human geography and member of UCW, spoke first. He discussed the contrast between the free speech rights of politicians, who responded on social media to Shirinian’s post, and Shirinian herself. Watkins specifically mentioned U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, who alerted government officials of the comment.
“He and Dr. Shirinian were both exercising their free speech on their own platforms. However, on Sept. 15, 2025, a day after Tim Burchett claimed ‘on it,’ Chancellor Donde Plowman acquiesced to the congressman’s request for Dr. Shirinian’s termination,” Watkins said. “How are we, as faculty, staff and grad workers and students, held to a different standard?”
Shirinian’s husband, Raja Swamy, associate professor in cultural anthropology at UT, wrapped up the conversation before protesters marched to the chancellor’s office in Andy Holt Tower, chanting and raising signs in the air.
“I would like to address the misogynistic and queerphobic hatred directed at Dr. Shirinian,” Swamy said, prompting cheers from the protesters. “I want to emphasize that this hatred, in fact, embodies the very fears and anxieties that her work sensitively and empathetically seeks to shed light on.”
Swamy explained that the basis of Shirinian’s work is not to brush opposing views under the rug, but to seek to understand them.
“Life itself is endangered, economically, socially and politically,” Swamy said.
Many protesters attended the rally because of their involvement in United Campus Workers.
“I recently moved here from Canada and joined the union, and want to support Dr. Shirinian in getting reinstated because it sets a very scary precedent for both teachers and students,” Natalia Ilyniak, graduate student and United Campus Workers member, said. “This is to respond to this situation, but also is with the hopes of preventing things like this from happening again.”
The petition to reinstate Shirinian obtained over 1,400 signatures. United Campus Workers delivered to the chancellor’s office a formal, 8-by-11 inch copy of the petition as well as a large, poster-sized version.
Protesters also showed up due to their broader commitment to protecting free speech.
“I’m here for free speech,” Jacob Lietz, graduate teaching associate studying creative writing, said. “We do not believe that the firing of our colleague is in line with what we believe the university should be standing for, and we are here to support her in that.”
A member of the United Campus Workers protest speaks on Wednesday, Nov. 12.
Anne Langendorfer, president of United Campus Workers and associate professor in the English department, said that protest attendees stand with thousands of faculty members at universities across the region.
“I want you to know that all across the Southeast, you are standing with colleagues at all of the public universities here in the Southeast,” Langendorfer said to protesters. “And you are all, unfortunately, going through something that a lot of other workers on college campuses across the Southeast are going through.”
United Campus Workers has been working with other campus organizations, including the Progressive Student Association and the American Association of University Professors, hosting workshops and panel discussions that shed light on issues of free speech and academic freedom following professor terminations across the country.
“Unions are the reason that we have any type of workers’ rights at all,” Ilyniak said. “And I believe in workers’ rights.”
United Campus Workers gather in HSS plaza to defend freedom of speech and support Dr. Tamar Shirinian. Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025.
