That is unbecoming of an institution of higher education, supported by taxpayer dollars., In her lawsuit, Burnett was represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which advocates for free-speech rights at colleges nationwide. SHERMAN, Texas A federal district court said late Friday that a professors lawsuit against the University of North Texas may proceed after he was fired over a joke Dallas' independent source of ADF sues Univ. The former professor wrote that he was later informed that his teaching contract would not be renewed. Woke College Officials Who Booted Defiant Math Professor Get Worst News Yet from a Federal Court By Warner Todd Huston March 20, 2022 at 8:47am The publicly In his own contribution to the symposium, Jackson doubted whether the white frame could be applied to a Jewish music theorist like Schenker. There was a problem saving your notification. Some of the eventual responses were pro-Ewell. Department head said he didnt agree with professors views, fired him immediately without following universitys own procedures, One-page summary: Hiers v. The Board of Regents of the University of North Texas System. The 24-year-old man accused of shooting a 6-year-old girl, her parents and another neighbor after a basketball rolled into his yard in North Carolina is now in police custody. They had publicly objected to what they considered the schools unsafe COVID-19 policies. I also noted that individual public administrators could face personal liability for their involvement in adopting such woke programs, as the clear nature of the law puts their usual qualified immunity in serious jeopardy. Wisdom can be gleaned from the story of the engineers Roger Boisjoly and Bob Ebeling regarding the Challenger disaster (they called NPR anonymously) and later Boisjoly wrote a book and toured colleges speaking on his ignored warnings. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. In that case, Oberlin faculty members, students and even some administrators accused the local bakery of racial profiling after an employee chased after a Black student who was allegedly shoplifting. Earlier this year, a math professor named Dr. Nathaniel Hiers was fired by the University of North Texas after leaving a comment on a chalkboard that made fun of Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. After that, he sat down for a meeting with the college provost and senior vice president. Its taken a few years now, and this determination has placed a huge impediment in Dr. Hiers ability to get a job, Langhofer said. After this spring, however, Phillipss contract is not being renewed. Staff Writer Concerning music theorys whiteness, Jackson said Black people should set different priorities. A fundamental reason for the paucity of African-American women and men in the field of music theory is that few grow up in homes where classic music is profoundly valued, he added. I am ashamed of my Alma Mater and have cancelled all donations to the Alumni Fund. The Lead for the NASA team to which I was assigned was 29 years old and had THREE PhDs. Other groups, including faculty members at Yale University and the University of Michigan, also denounced the symposium, which did not include work from any scholars of color or a submission from Ewell. Error! He told Inside Higher Ed in August that some of the symposium's worst comments were anti-Black in that they communicated that Black people should aspire to whiteness. Copyright 2008-2023, Legal Insurrection, All Rights Reserved. Connor Ellington - University of Texas-Austin, Microaggressions professor: Not everything is a microaggression, Medievalists ban microaggressions against vulnerable scholars, Professors advised to treat classroom microaggressions as assault, The Bidens want all books available to students, so I got the D.C. library to buy Tara Reades memoir, Mike Pence appearance at UNC causes some to leave campus: scared for their safety, Liberal feminism misunderstands women by ignoring sexual difference: panel at Harvard, Nearly 100 Harvard professors unite to protect thinkers, oddballs, and nonconformists, America is committing civilizational suicide, Heather Mac Donald warns in new book, Powered by the Student Free Press Association. cbreeding@dentonrc.com, By Brooke Colombo Once javascript and access to those URLs are allowed, please refresh this page. In any case, Allen said, the court is an open forum in which defendants arent silenced but rather called to speak and justify their defamatory actions in public. Texas in particular holds that a statement is defamatory "if it tends to injure the person's reputation, exposing the person to public hatred, contempt, ridicule or financial injury, or if it tends to impeach that person's honesty, integrity or virtue," he said. Under the bill, colleges and universities in the UNC system could only offer contracts lasting up to four years. ", Defamation, properly construed, is an important exception to the First Amendment's protection, Creeley said. More recently, the group has publicly criticized Jackson. In return, Phillips said, the college promised it would help him find a new job. FIRE is representing Phillips as well. As in the previous instances, the colleges latest professor to be ousted said he lost his job for speaking out about a topic that the colleges leadership didnt like. "Timothy Jacksons goals have been consistent from the beginning, and that is to express academic freedom without fear of retaliation from those who disagree," Michael Thad Allen, Jacksons lead attorney, told Campus Reform. As an undergraduate physics major at what was then called North Texas State University in the late 1960s, I interned on the NASA Apollo Program while we put men on the moon and returned them safely to earth several times starting in 1969. They hated history until they came into my class.. That will stop these educational potentates. Launching Media Careers. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Public university fired professor for calling microaggressions handout garbage: lawsuit. On Twitter, Phillips posted an excerpt from an administration PowerPoint presentation that specifically banned even the suggestion of masks. The publicly funded University of North Texas was dealt a blow in court after a federal judge said school officials can be held responsible for firing employees for exercising their right of free speech. Texass department of agriculture is run by Sid Miller, a Republican who was first elected to his role in 2014. juan.betancourt@dentonrc.com, Denton Flea Market, filled with Latino entrepreneurs, brings folks together to shop and eat, Meet two Denton ISD Teachers of the Year, awarded by Jostens and chosen by the district, Denton police investigate dogs found deceased in parked vehicle, Morning brief: Yes, no, maybe? Allen, Jackson's lawyer, said this week that the defendants in the case falsely claimed that Jackson engaged in racist actions for "doing nothing other than publishing articles, some critical and some in support of a Black scholar. Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in. For instance, statements such as I believe the most qualified person should get the job and America is the land of opportunity are cited as microaggressions promoting the [m]yth of [m]eritocracy., Professor Hiers propped up the flier on a chalkboard ledge and wrote on the board Please dont leave garbage lying around., He was then summoned by the chair of the math department, who demanded an apology that Hiers wouldnt give, so they fired him. Ewell also criticized the late Jewish music theorist, composer, and teacher Heinrich Schenker as "an ardent racist and German nationalist" and alleged that "our white racial frame seeks to shield Schenker from unwanted criticism.". The university officials allegedly flouted that core principle of the First Amendment when they discontinued Hiers employment because of his speech. ends up losing and having to settle on that wrongful termination suit. People may feel threatened, Schmidt elaborated, because they dont know who wrote this; it might be a faculty member, grad student or anyone else. Its as if Hiers warned visitors to the faculty lounge Dont you dare bring up nonsense like microaggressions, or else, the chair allegedly said. Defeating this insanity is going to be a long grueling fight. He obtained B.A. Contacto | Langhofer said the ruling is a message to the university and Texas residents. ", The 17 professors -- all of whom are defendants in the lawsuit -- expressed particular concern about Ewell, saying the treatment of his work provides an example of the broader system of oppression built into the academic and legal institutions in which our disciplines exist.. Some students in Phillipss class were unhappy with his recommending masks, and they complained to the administration. Less than a week after Collin College agreed to pay $70,000 to a former professor fired for questionable reasons, yet another faculty member at the Texas community college is going to be out of a job. VIP | 4:00AM, Im going to be on that like a duck on a June bug."