This is what he got fired for btw:
“Charlie Kirk says gun deaths are ‘unfortunately’ worth it to keep 2nd Amendment,” read the headline of an article Michael shared. He did not add any additional comment on it.
And this is how he got back:
a settlement agreement between Michael and the university, showing the school will dish out $500,000 and reimburse “therapeutic counseling services.”
“APSU agrees to issue a statement acknowledging regret for not following the tenure termination process in connection with the Dispute,” the settlement reportedly reads. “The statement will be distributed via email through APSU’s reasonable communication channels to faculty, staff, and students.”
And yes, he’s working there again since December. BTW it’s $500,000, not 50,000.
Only because he fought back, I presume. Fight back, on all levels!
He was tenured. Tenured professors are supposed to be nearly bulletproof when it comes to job security.
Possibly a poor choice of words given the circumstances…but there is nothing in the original comment that can or should justify firing a tenured professor. Being tenured should protect your job specifically for voicing controversial positions. That’s kind of the point.
Though I wouldn’t even say this is controversial…it’s a verifiable objective fact with no added opinion or emotional language…the timing may make it a bit dark, but that’s kind of the point.
It’s ironic how so many people are getting shit for saying mean things about a person who was, at the end of the day, a shining example of first amendment rights.
there is nothing in the original comment that can or should justify firing
no shit
The people running these institutions have all revealed an absolute desperation for a cultural zietgiest shift towards right-wing authoritarianism.
They just want it so bad.
The thing is, the professor literally didn’t say anything. He posted two photos. One was a headline with the Charlie Kirk quote, and one was about his death.
Not bulletproof, and especially not in Tennessee. I actually have a colleague from grad school at AP.
The real thing here is that they have rules on the books and didn’t bother to follow them. That often is a monumental fuck up.
Its actually quite insanely concerning how few people understand how feebile the MAGAts actually are when directly challenged.
Their success since 2016 has solely been due to lack of resistance, not anything meaningful they’ve done.
I’m going to push back a bit here. Because people say a lot that there is no resistance and, to your point, there isn’t any impactful resistance where it matters.
There is a world of difference between people who want to fight for what is right and people who are willing to die for what is right.
The reason we are here is because we have plenty of the former and very very little of the latter.
I do not say this lightly because I fear we are reaching a point that unless people are willing to risk their lives, we will lose our lives to fascism.
Would a potential trial fall under labor dispute (violating tenure agreement) or First Amendment (is the university getting government funding I assume)?
The person who fired him also got a bonus, probably by bankrupting the early education department.
Okay I made that up, but you know it’s likely.
“APSU did not follow the required termination process in this matter, and I deeply regret and apologize for the impact this has had on Professor Michael and on our campus community,” the university president said. “I am committed to ensuring that due process and fairness are upheld in all future actions.”
Kind of a hollow apology from the school president. “Sorry we didn’t follow the require termination process.” No apologies for trying to repress free speech. No apologies for over reacting when the professor posted a quote and nothing else. No apologies for trying to curry favor with an authoritarian regime by falling in line like a good little boy. Seriously, fuck that guy.
“Sorry we got caught”
The $500k counts as an apology
it doesn’t. not to me. that’s counts as a plea to let the subject go and move on.
Like a settlement
deleted by creator
All that stuff is implied in the apology. You’re just fishing for criticism, if all those things were included, you’d criticize it for omitting something else.
Hard disagree. They were very careful to claim the problem was just that the process wasn’t followed.
The apology is literally “sorry we didn’t fire him properly”, there is nothing about firing him being the wrong course of action. Every word of the apology is carefully crafted to avoid implying that firing him was the wrong move, just that they didn’t fire him correctly.
I love it when people got blowback for literally quoting Kirk.
These dumb motherfuckers never see the irony.
“Charlie Kirk says gun deaths are ‘unfortunately’ worth it to keep 2nd Amendment,” read the headline of an article Michael shared. He did not add any additional comment on it.
Senator Blackburn (R-TN) then pinged the school about that post, and the professor was fired despite the fact that he had tenure and couldn’t legally be fired like that. So he used the legal system to find a remedy.
Uh oh, better go invade another country and murder an innocent woman before anybody notices.
Where’s the headline for the firing of the idiots that caused the institution to throw away over half a million dollars.
No paywall/Ad Blocker BS
https://archive.li/hfIyZI can read the full article just by blocking javascript
Great result, clowns!
Will it be reported on FauxNews?
I sure hope a lot of qons find out and get very butthurt about it. :)
Republikkkan scumbags have such thin skin. DonT MoCk Me GuYs sErIuSweeee iT MaKeS mY hEd SaDddddd. Can’t take it, can’t dish it out without sounding like whiny little bitches… All they can do is try to cancel— always at the heart of the so-called cancel culture they hate so much
Summary says awarded $50,000, article says $500,000:
Darren Michael, associate professor at Austin Peay State University, has reportedly been reinstated and given $500,000 after being fired over posts about assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
$50000 won’t cover legal bills and $500K sounds like a settlement for breaking academic freedom agreements.
Free speech
