South Dakota university drops effort to fire professor for Charlie Kirk post

The University of South Dakota campus. (Courtesy of University of South Dakota)

The University of South Dakota and the state Board of Regents have dropped their effort to fire a professor for his social media post about the killing of Charlie Kirk, according to a letter released by the professor’s lawyer.

Professor Michael Hook’s attorney Jim Leach released the letter from the university on Friday.

“We have taken into consideration your remorse for the post, your past record of service, and the university’s interest in efficient operations,” the letter says. “Based upon these factors, the university, in consultation with the Board of Regents, hereby withdraws its intent to terminate your contract.”

The letter was signed by USD President Sheila Gestring. Neither USD nor the Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s public universities, immediately responded to South Dakota Searchlight messages.

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Leach also released a written statement from Hook, an art professor.

“I am thrilled that I can continue teaching my students at the University of South Dakota. I love this work and this university as much now as when I came here 19 years ago,” the statement said. “I hope the state now understands that the First Amendment prohibits it from punishing anyone for speech about public issues — no matter how much state or national leaders or others disagree with it.”

Kirk, a conservative political activist and commentator, was fatally shot on Sept. 10 in Utah. Later that same day, Hook wrote a Facebook post that used a derogatory term to describe Kirk and questioned the veracity of Kirk supporters’ concerns about political violence. The Facebook page was Hook’s personal account, but noted his status as a USD professor.

Hook deleted the post several hours later and posted an apology, but the original post had already circulated widely. South Dakota political leaders, including Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden and Republican state House Speaker Jon Hansen, criticized Hook and publicly supported his termination.

In response to a Searchlight message Friday, a spokesperson for Rhoden said “our office has no further comment at this time.”

Within days of Hook’s posts, the Board of Regents notified Hook of its intent to fire him. The board placed him on administrative leave and scheduled a personal conference to discuss the matter.

Hook filed a lawsuit, and a federal judge granted him a temporary restraining order requiring the state to pause its effort to terminate him. A hearing on Hook’s motion for a longer-lasting order was scheduled for later this month.

Judge Karen Schreier wrote in her order that Hook had spoken as a citizen on a matter of public concern, which is a form of constitutionally protected speech. She also said the state failed to produce evidence that Hook’s speech had an adverse impact on the efficiency of university operations, and that Hook had a fair chance of prevailing in his lawsuit by showing the actions taken against him were a form of retaliation that could chill protected speech.

Hook’s case was part of a wave of firings and investigations that swept through academia and government in the wake of Kirk’s death, as state agencies, colleges and local school districts took action against employees over comments perceived as offensive or inappropriate. Dozens of workers in higher education alone lost their jobs.

South Dakota Searchlight’s Joshua Haiar contributed to this report.