Dive Brief:
- Incoming Boston University Assistant Professor Saida Grundy said she regretted “indelicate” tweets about race, focused on white students and businesses, after a controversy exploded last weekend.
- Inside Higher Ed reports Grundy’s statement came shortly after the president of Boston University said he was disappointed and concerned by her tweets, which he said reduced individuals to stereotypes.
- While there have been calls for the university to fire Grundy before she has a chance to teach her first class, Boston will not do so, according to the article.
Dive Insight:
Grundy is certainly not the first professor to find herself in the middle of a controversy over comments on her personal social media account. Steven Salaita had his appointment offer revoked by the University of Illinois because of anti-Israel tweets last summer. An anti-NRA tweet got a Kansas University professor placed on administrative leave in 2013. While faculty lean heavily toward freedom of speech, donors, alumni, and parents more often question objectivity in the classroom when controversial political perspectives come out.