A college professor will receive $500,000 from a Tennessee university that moved to fire him last year for a Facebook post about Charlie Kirk that school leadership called insensitive. Darren Michael, a 56-year-old associate professor of acting and directing, will return to teach at Austin Peay S tate University in Clarksville as part of a half-million-dollar settlement in a wrongful termination claim. Darren Michael, a 56-year-old associate professor at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. (Photos: LinkedIn/Google) The settlement comes three months after Michael was suspended pending termination in September 2025. Following Kirk’s assassination on Sept. 10, Michael shared a screenshot of a Newsweek article from 2023 that quoted the slain right-wing activist’s own thoughts on gun violence and the right to bear arms. ‘Don’t Touch’: Black Father Flew Over ‘Like Superman’ and Tackled White Man Who Put Hands on His Son at a Youth Basketball Game in Viral Video The article — published a week after a school shooting that claimed the lives of six people, including three children — was titled “Charlie Kirk Says Gun Deaths ‘Unfortunately’ Worth It to Keep 2nd Amendment.” Michael’s post went viral after catching the attention of Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn, who reposted it on X on Sept. 12 with the college professor’s headshot and biography, tagging Austin Peay State in the caption that read, “What do you say, @austinpeay?” That same day, Michael received an email from the university’s president, Michael Licari, notifying him that he had been fired effective immediately. “This decision is being made due to recent social media posts that have caused significant reputational damage to the university,” Dr. Licari wrote in the letter, per The New York Times. In another statement reported by Clarksville Now, Licari said that Michael’s post didn’t align with the school’s principles and characterized it as “insensitive, disrespectful and interpreted by many as propagating justification for unlawful death.” Two weeks later, the university backpedaled on its decision to fire Michael after admitting that due process had not been followed, and instead put him on paid suspension. Still, school officials continued to pursue his termination. What ensued after was a months-long dispute over Michael’s employment with the university. He was reinstated to his teaching position on Dec. 30 after state officials, including the governor and attorney general, approved the settlement. The university will also reimburse Michael for therapeutic counseling services he received in the weeks after his suspension. “APSU agrees to issue a statement acknowledging regret for not following the tenure termination process in connection with the Dispute,” the compromise and settlement agreement reads in part, per WKRN. Michael’s lawyer believes the effort to fire the professor stemmed from political pressure on the university. “All he did was repost the same thing that Mr. Kirk had said,” attorney David King said. “I don’t think that Austin Peay and its leadership acted independently.” Other cases similar to the college professor’s also emerged in the weeks after Kirk’s death. Reports surfaced about firings and arrests over social media posts considered inflammatory and threatening by employers and law enforcement. A former cop in Tennessee was arrested and jailed on a $2 million bond after being accused of threats of mass violence for posting a meme of President Donald Trump in a Facebook group organizing a local vigil for Charlie Kirk. Charges were dropped two weeks after the arrest. Tennessee College Professor Gets $500,000 and Job Back at University That Tried to Fire Him Over ‘Insensitive, Disrespectful’ Charlie Kirk Post ...read more read less