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A Tennessee university has reportedly agreed to pay $500,000 and reinstate a tenured professor after firing him over a social media post related to the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Under the terms of a settlement agreement obtained by WKRN News 2, Austin Peay State University in Clarksville will also reimburse therapeutic counseling services for the professor and issue a statement acknowledging that it failed to follow its own faculty tenure termination procedures.
Darren Michael, an associate professor of acting and directing at APSU since 2007, was fired on Sept. 12, 2025, for resharing a social media post in the wake of Kirk’s killing. The post included a headline quoting Kirk’s 2023 remarks that gun-related deaths were “unfortunately” worth it to protect the Second Amendment.
Shortly after the post circulated online, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., pressured the university to take action. She shared a screenshot of Michael’s post and faculty biography on social media, tagging APSU and asking, “What do you say, @austinpeay?”
Charlie Kirk speaks before he is assassinated during Turning Point’s visit to Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on Sept. 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)
In a university statement shared by the campus newspaper after Michael’s firing, President Michael Licari called the post “insensitive, disrespectful and interpreted by many as propagating justification for unlawful death.”
Later in September, university administrators acknowledged they had not followed required procedures for terminating a tenured faculty member, according to a report by Clarksville Now, and moved the professor to suspension while it initiated termination proceedings.
The outlet also reported that Licari emailed the campus community on Dec. 30 announcing Michael’s return to his tenured faculty position, acknowledging the university’s failure to follow its own policies and expressing regret over how the situation was handled.
Clement Building on the campus of Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, Sept. 23, 2014. (iStock)
PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS FACE BACKLASH FOR SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS MOCKING CHARLIE KIRK’S ASSASSINATION
Austin Peay State University spokesperson Ginna Holleman confirmed to Fox News Digital that Michael had been reinstated but said the terms of the settlement agreement were confidential.
“Effective December 30, 2025, Professor Darren Michael has returned to his position as a tenured faculty member at Austin Peay State University,” Holleman told Fox News Digital. “I can confirm that the university and Professor Michael reached a settlement agreement. As we are bound by confidentiality provisions of that agreement, I cannot provide further information or comment.”
Austin Peay State University entrance. (iStock)
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Fox News Digital reached out to Michael for comment.
After Kirk’s death, multiple higher education employees shared posts on social media appearing to celebrate or justify his murder. Screenshots of the posts spread widely on social media and drew condemnation from Republican lawmakers and conservative groups demanding accountability.
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