MUNCIE, Ind. - Ball State University has fired Director of Health Promotion and Advocacy Suzanne Swierc for a leaked friends-only Facebook post.
The post, marked as friends-only on Facebook, shared on X (formerly Twitter) by the account @libsoftiktok and partially cited in The Ball State Daily's coverage, is reportedly Swierc's personal response regarding conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated at Utah Valley University on September 10.
"Let me be clear, if you think Charlie Kirk was a wonderful person, we can't be friends," Swierc reportedly posted.
Swierc also reportedly stated that she "feel[s] for his wife and children," and that, "while it's difficult, I can and do pray for his soul."
Swierc continued, reportedly saying that "Charlie Kirk's death is a reflection of the violence, fear, and hatred he sowed. It does not excuse his death, AND it's a sad truth. The shooting is a tragedy, and I can and do feel for a college campus experiencing an active shooter situation. The deaths of Melissa and Mark Hortman, the children shot and killed in Minneapolis last month, and the children shot in Colorado today are tragedies that also deserve your attention. Charlie Kirk excused the deaths of children in the name of the second amendment."
@libsoftiktok captioned the post, "Director of Health Promotion and Advocacy at @BallState justifies Charlie's ass[a]ssination and demonizes him with lies. Any comment @BallState??"
On September 12, the university posted a statement to Facebook that the administration was "aware of social media posts by two social media employees," and was "gathering additional information about the posts in order to determine what discipline, if any, is appropriate and permissible under the First Amendment of the Constitution."
On September 17, the university posted another statement to Facebook that Swierc was terminated, "effective immediately."
"Our [a]dministration determined the post was inconsistent with the distinctive nature and trust of Ms. Swierc's leadership position at Ball State University and that the post caused significant disruption to the University," the statement read.
The statement cited Hedgepeth v. Britton, No. 24-1427 (7th Cir. 2025), claiming the administration "evaluated the impact of the significant disruption to the University's mission and operations and the effect of the post on her ability to perform her work in her leadership position."
"No additional information will be released on this personal matter," the statement read.
The statement also mentioned that a separate post from another university employee "remains under investigation by our [a]dmininstration. No additional information will be released on that post at this time."
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