Dive Summary:
- On Tuesday, 60 protesters rallied outside of Florida Atlantic University's administration building in support of "Jesus-stomping" instructor Deandre Poole and academic freedom, performing a version of the disputed classroom exercise and calling on the university to retain Poole.
- Poole--who was placed on paid administrative leave for his own safety after receiving hate mail and threats--was at the center of a controversy stemming from an intercultural communications classroom exercise meant to demonstrate the power of words as symbols, in which students were asked to write "Jesus" on a piece of paper and step on it.
- The demonstrators accused university administrators and Gov. Rick Scott or meddling in the classroom, as the latter called for a report on the incident and assurance that the activity wouldn't be repeated, and the former removed the activity from curriculum.
From the article:
... Christopher Robe, a communications professor who heads the FAU faculty union, called on administrators to issue a statement affirming academic freedom and “admit they made a mistake” in responding to the controversy.
“The one thing I thought students, faculty and administration could agree on is academic freedom,” said Robe. “The fact that we have to come out here and do this is a deep betrayal.” ...