UPDATE: The Detroit Free Press reports that Michigan State University pulled Professor William Penn from teaching duties, reassigning his courses to others. According to spokesman Kent Casella, "The dean of the College of Arts and Letters and a representative from the provost’s office met with Penn, who acknowledged that some of his comments were inappropriate, disrespectful and offensive and may have negatively affected the learning environment." Republican Board of Trustees member Mitch Lyons immediately praised the decision, saying it ensured "a free exchange of ideas and opinions" among students.
Dive Summary:
- A prominent Michigan State University professor is being taken to task by a conservative group after he was recorded railing against Republicans and “closet racists” in class.
- A video shows Professor William Penn, a noted Native American writer and scholar, on the first day of a creative writing class attacking Republican Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann; conservative group Campus Reform also says Penn alleged that Republicans "raped" this country.
- A university spokesman says the school is reviewing the situation.
From the article:
... “If you go to the Republican convention in Florida, you see all of the old Republicans with the dead skin cells washing off them,” the professor is heard saying in the video. “They are cheap. They don’t want to pay taxes because they have already raped this country and gotten everything out of it they possibly could.” ...