Michael Rex and Max Wood #
Introduction #
Dr. Michael Rex and Max Wood were two Cumberland University employees who were fired in September 2025 after making what the university called inappropriate comments about the shooting death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. On the morning of Friday, September 12, 2025, Cumberland University, a private liberal arts college in Lebanon, Tennessee, confirmed that both men were no longer employed by the university, four days after reports that multiple employers were dismissing or suspending workers over posts celebrating or mocking Kirk’s assassination. According to the university, the pair had made “inappropriate comments on the internet related to the tragic shooting of Charlie Kirk.”
Background Information #
Cumberland University is a private liberal arts college in Lebanon, Tennessee. Kirk, the commentator at the center of the episode, was fatally shot at a university in Utah on September 10, 2025, a killing that triggered a national wave of employment consequences for people whose posts about it were deemed celebratory or mocking. Per the reporting on the Cumberland firings, Rex had reportedly made several controversial comments on his Facebook page, and in his latest one on Kirk’s death he wrote, “Karma is beautiful…” The sources do not describe what Wood is alleged to have posted, and they identify one of the two as a staff member and the other as a faculty member without saying which was which.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #
Allegations. The conduct described here was addressed as a private employment matter by Cumberland University, which confirmed the terminations; it was never admitted by Rex or Wood, never criminally charged, and never adjudicated in court. The sources describe the comments only as “inappropriate” beyond quoting Rex’s Facebook remark, and no denial by either man is recorded in the sources.
Cumberland University confirmed on Friday, September 12, 2025, that Dr. Michael Rex and Max Wood were no longer employed by the university. The terminations were confirmed via a statement from university president Paul C. Stumb, whose office said the employees had made “inappropriate comments on the internet related to the tragic shooting of Charlie Kirk.” The university said in a statement: “The decision was not made lightly,” adding: “We understand the importance and impact of this action, and we want to emphasize that we conducted a comprehensive investigation prior to making our decision.” It added: “We remain steadfast to our mission to promote higher education, nurture academic excellence, and support a safe and inclusive learning environment for all.” The only comment attributed to either man in the sources is Rex’s reported Facebook remark on Kirk’s death, “Karma is beautiful…”
Public Reaction and Consequences #
The Cumberland firings were announced amid a wider national reckoning over posts about Kirk’s assassination. In Tennessee alone, the same reporting noted that Middle Tennessee State University had fired its assistant dean over “callous” comments on Kirk’s death, while East Tennessee State University placed two faculty members on administrative leave over posts about the shooting. Nationally, NTD’s roundup of the wave recorded the September 11 firing of MSNBC analyst Matthew Dowd, airline pilots grounded or suspended over posts, and a Secret Service agent placed on leave after a Facebook post about Kirk’s death. Cumberland itself had also canceled a lecture by former MSNBC analyst Matthew Dowd following Kirk’s death, according to related coverage cited in the report. The university’s own statement emphasized that it had “conducted a comprehensive investigation prior to making our decision.”
Current Status #
As of the September 2025 reports, both Rex and Wood remained no longer employed by Cumberland University, per the university’s confirmation. Neither man was reported to face any criminal charge or legal proceeding over the comments, and the sources record no appeal, reinstatement, or further disciplinary action. The sources also do not state which of the two held the staff role and which held the faculty role, leaving that detail unreported.
Impact on Their Career/Life #
The immediate effect on both men was the loss of their university employment, confirmed publicly by Cumberland on September 12, 2025, with the university describing the action as significant and the product of what it called a comprehensive investigation. For Rex, the case left a public record tying his name to a reported pattern of controversial Facebook posts, culminating in the “Karma is beautiful…” remark quoted in reporting on the firings. Their cases became part of the documented wave of terminations and suspensions that followed Kirk’s September 10, 2025 assassination, in which educators featured prominently among those fired or suspended nationwide. No criminal charges were filed against either man; the matter remained, as the university framed it, an internal employment decision.