Overview

• U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier granted a temporary restraining order blocking the University of South Dakota from firing tenured art professor Phillip Michael Hook.
• The court required Hook’s reinstatement retroactive to Sept. 12, 2025, and kept the order in place pending an Oct. 8 hearing on a preliminary injunction.
• Schreier found Hook spoke as a citizen on a matter of public concern and noted no evidence so far that his post disrupted university operations.
• The judge cited the timing of the discipline and communications from state politicians urging Hook’s removal as reasons he has a fair chance to prove retaliation.
• Hook’s case is one of several lawsuits by educators disciplined for posts about Kirk’s killing, including actions involving Ball State University, an Iowa school district, and a South Carolina district.