Defend Free Speech! Support MTSU Employee Rights! No to Political Capitulation by the Administration!

November 5, 2025

United Campus Workers Southeast (CWA Local 3821) - MTSU Chapter

On Monday, September 10, 2025, Middle Tennessee State University President Sidney McPhee announced the termination of Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, Laura Sosh-Lightsy for one post commenting on Charlie Kirk’s death made privately on personal social media. This response came only hours after Republican Senator and candidate for Governor Marsha Blackburn called for her dismissal. Terminating employees for exercising their first amendment rights to freedom of expression is wrong. Bowing to political pressure by politicians is wrong. Firing an employee without measured consideration and investigation is wrong. This action contributes to the dangerous epidemic of politically motivated firings and suspensions in higher education across the country.

MTSU Policy 103–Free Speech states:

“Although MTSU greatly values civility and mutual respect, the University will not use concerns about civility and mutual respect as justification for closing off the discussion of ideas, however offensive, unwise, immoral, indecent, disagreeable, conservative, liberal, traditional, radical, or wrong-headed those ideas may be to some students or faculty”

We, the undersigned faculty, staff, students, and allies across institutions of higher education, call on President McPhee and MTSU’s Board of Trustees to:

1. Publicly affirm the constitutional right of all employees to speak as private individuals without retaliation.

2. Publicly affirm that the administration of MTSU will not capitulate to political pressure regarding employee termination and the terms such as the “credibility and reputation” of the university as used by President McPhee in his announcement of Sosh-Lightsy’s termination neither be speculative nor understood in terms of the partisan politics of the moment.

3. Rescind MTSU’s policy allowing immediate termination of employees. Replace this policy with one allowing immediate suspension and exclusion from campus, pending investigation. This investigation should be nonpartisan, internal to MTSU, and of sufficient length to allow for consideration beyond the passions of the moment.