University of Tennessee Workers Rally and Deliver Petition Calling on UTK to Reinstate Dr. Shirinian and Defend Freedom of Speech

Knoxville, TN - On Wednesday November 12th, over 80 faculty, staff, graduate workers, and students gathered outside McClung Tower at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville calling for the university to reinstate Dr. Tamar Shirinian and uphold the free speech rights of all employees. On Monday, September 15, 2025, University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), Chancellor Donde Plowman announced termination proceedings against Dr. Tamar Shirinian, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology, for a social media post. These proceedings are not supported by any UTK or UT Board of Trustees policies. As a result, United Campus Workers (UCW) launched a petition calling on Chancellor Plowman to reinstate Dr. Shirinian, publicly affirm the constitutional right of all employees to speak as private individuals without retaliation, and uphold the policies guaranteeing free speech to faculty in the UT Board of Trustees Policy. The petition received over 1,300 signatures. Members of United Campus Workers took further action on the issue by hosting a rally. 

Speakers included professors, graduate workers, and community members. Todd Freeberg, a faculty member in the Psychology department, said on behalf of UCW and AAUP (The American Association of University Professors), “We stand for clear policies and procedures around issues so important to academic freedom as the termination of a faculty member. Those procedures and policies exist in our Faculty Handbook. We do not believe our upper administration has followed these policies, nor have principles of shared governance been respected, and this raises serious concerns for us.” He pointed to the concern for all instructors of record at the university, which include tenure and non-tenure track faculty, graduate workers, and some staff. 

Jordan Drake, a graduate worker in Physics, spoke about the fear created by attacks on free speech in higher education: “Workers are going to be fearful about sharing opinions in public and private spaces. [The university] is a place where people go to learn, to exchange ideas, and if you can’t exchange ideas freely, then you’ve lost one of the major components of what people come to a college campus for, which is to learn.” 

Beau Hawk, the president of the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Central Labor Council, addressed the need for solidarity amongst workers attacks on worker’s rights increases : “political pressure should never infringe on the rights of workers to due process…solidarity of all workers, regardless of industry or sector, is exactly what we need to fight back and ensure that workers, like Dr. Shirinian and all workers on this campus, have the rights and standard of living they deserve.” After the rally concluded,a group of 40 faculty, staff, graduate workers, and students marched to Andy Holt tower and delivered the petition to Chancellor Plowman’s office.