Assistant dean at TN university fired over ‘callous’ comments about Charlie Kirk

A prominent faculty member at Middle Tennessee State University has been fired for “inappropriate” comments about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the university president said.

A spokesperson for the university, which is about 40 miles southeast from Nashville, confirmed to McClatchy News the employee was Laura Sosh-Lightsy, the assistant dean of the Office of Student Care and Conduct.

Her name has been removed from the department’s website, but an old snapshot shows she worked for the university for over 20 years.

McClatchy News reached out to her for comment Sept. 11 but did not immediately receive a response.

Although the former employee’s post appears to have been deleted, WSMV reported that a Facebook user with Sosh-Lightsy’s name shared she had “ZERO sympathy” after Kirk was shot and killed during an event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox called Kirk’s death a “political assassination” during a news conference broadcast by KCCI.

Marsha Blackburn, a U.S. senator representing Tennessee, reposted a screengrab on X, formerly Twitter, that another user took of the MTSU employee’s post, in which Sosh-Lightsy wrote Kirk “spoke his fate into existence” and added “hate begets hate.”

Blackburn called for the employee’s removal.

In two separate statements, MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee condemned Sosh-Lightsy’s words, writing that an employee “had posted callous and insensitive comments on Facebook to an audience that certainly knows of her role at MTSU.”

McPhee said the faculty member’s posts compromised her ability to do her job and didn’t align with the university’s values.

“Simply put, this employee’s actions make her ineligible to work with students on their conduct,” the president wrote. “Speech can have consequences and her thoughtlessness and lack of empathy mean that no one walking into her office can see her as an objective arbiter of facts.”

President Donald Trump described Kirk as a “patriot who devoted his life to the cause of open debate and the country that he loved so much, the United States of America.”

Trump announced Sept. 11 that Kirk would posthumously receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

This story was originally published September 11, 2025 at 1:49 PM with the headline "Assistant dean at TN university fired over ‘callous’ comments about Charlie Kirk."