Joshua Bregy #

Introduction #

Joshua (Josh) Bregy is an American environmental scientist and academic who was fired as an assistant professor of environmental engineering and earth sciences at Clemson University in September 2025 for resharing, on his personal Facebook page, a post critical of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk after Kirk’s assassination. Bregy did not write the post he shared: it condemned political violence while quoting a remark Kirk had made about gun deaths, and Bregy deleted the share after it drew attention. After a Clemson student group amplified the post and politicians demanded his dismissal, the university suspended and fired him. Bregy, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina, sued and argued that a public university had violated his First Amendment rights. In a mediated settlement reached in early January 2026, Clemson agreed to rescind the termination, keep paying him with benefits until an agreed resignation date in May 2026, and provide positive letters of recommendation. He was never accused of any crime; the case concerned only his speech about a public figure.

Background Information #

Bregy joined Clemson University, a public university in South Carolina, in January 2023 as an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences. His specialty is geological oceanography, and Clemson’s provost described him as a “great teacher,” according to court documents. Clemson’s salary database listed his pay during the 2024-2025 school year at $91,190. He held his post without tenure, the academic designation that protects professors from being fired without cause; according to Clemson professors and experts with the American Association of University Professors, commentary posted from private social media accounts, off campus and on his own time, should nonetheless have been allowed under the university’s faculty manual.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

On September 10, 2025, Kirk, the founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was fatally shot by a gunman while speaking to a large crowd at Utah Valley University. In the days that followed, Bregy reshared a short essay about the shooting on his personal Facebook page. The post, which he later deleted, began by saying violence was never acceptable and went on to quote a comment Kirk had made about gun violence: that it was “worth it to have the cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year” to maintain constitutional gun rights. “I’ll never advocate for violence in any form, but it sounds to me like karma is sometimes swift and ironic,” the post read. “As Kirk said, ‘play certain games, win certain prizes.’” Bregy did not write these words; he reshared someone else’s essay.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

The Clemson College Republicans shared Bregy’s Facebook post on X, alongside photographs of him holding signs reading Black Lives Matter and that climate change was real. From there the post gained traction among state and federal legislators, who called for Bregy’s firing. Clemson initially said it disagreed with the sentiments but recognized faculty members’ First Amendment rights, prompting outcry from those who considered that insufficient; Republican legislators from both Statehouse chambers, including the lead budget writers, called on the Board of Trustees to “take immediate and appropriate action,” and lawmakers and donors threatened to pull funding from the university. The board suspended Bregy and fellow assistant professor Melvin Villaver on September 15, five days after the post, and Bregy received a letter of termination the next day, according to his lawsuit, which said the letter claimed he “did not show due restraint or respect” and had not clarified that his views did not represent Clemson’s; Inside Higher Ed gives the termination date as September 26. Bregy sued in early October, arguing that the firing violated his First Amendment rights and a state law prohibiting the firing of public employees for political speech. His dismissal came amid a nationwide wave of people losing jobs over posts criticizing Kirk or celebrating his death.

Current Status #

A mediated settlement, reached on January 3, 2026, and reported on January 8, rescinded Bregy’s termination. Under its terms he remains a Clemson employee, receiving pay and benefits “throughout the original term of his employment,” until May 15, 2026 — the end of his original contract — when he will resign. During the spring semester he cannot teach, conduct research, or interact with students: as the SC Daily Gazette put it, he will be paid but cannot return to any classroom. He may list Clemson as his place of employment when applying for grants, and university leadership, including Clemson provost Robert Jones, agreed to provide positive letters of recommendation to potential employers based on his classroom teaching. Under federal judge Jacquelyn D. Austin’s January 6 order, the parties have 60 days to complete the terms, after which the case will be closed permanently. ACLU of South Carolina legal director Allen Chaney said his organization was honored to reach an agreement that “restores his employment” and “deters the university from violating the First Amendment rights of its faculty in the future.” Two other Clemson employees fired over Kirk-related posts have not sued.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

The affair effectively ended Bregy’s Clemson career even though the university formally reversed it. An assistant professor whose provost called a “great teacher” was suspended five days after a Facebook share and fired soon after; although his position was nominally restored, he is barred from the classroom, research, and any student contact until a resignation he agreed to as part of the settlement. He is among the many faculty members nationwide targeted over posts about Kirk’s death, and among the fewer who recovered anything: unlike the tenured professors who won their jobs back — including an Austin Peay State University professor who received a $500,000 settlement — Bregy had no tenure and regained his pay and record rather than his teaching role. Free speech and academic freedom advocates, including the ACLU, described the campaign against him and his colleagues, flagged by a student group and pressed by legislators and donors, as a witch hunt against teachers. His lawsuit produced a settlement the ACLU argued would deter future First Amendment violations at Clemson, and it leaves a public record that he lost his job for resharing someone else’s words about a public figure’s death, with no allegation of wrongdoing beyond the post itself.