michael
2023-03-18 19:56:15 UTC
Russia owns Biden
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. A Florida English professor whose lessons aboutracial justice put him at odds with his university's administrators has
been fired, the professor said.
Sam Joeckel, a veteran professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University, said
in a statement Thursday that the West Palm Beach school had made the
disappointing decision to terminate my contract early.
The move comes a month after school administrators told Joeckel they were
investigating a concern raised by a parent that he was indoctrinating
his students by incorporating lessons about racial justice into his
writing composition course.
Joeckel, who has taught at the 3,700-student Christian school for two
decades, said he has long included teachings about racial justice in the
class and that administrators had never expressed concerns about them
before.
They did this for a clear reason: my decision to teach and speak about
racial justice, Joeckel said. The timing of this is not a coincidence as
we are dealing with an anti-woke crusade from Governor DeSantis and
other far-right politicians and activists. PBA was clearly influenced by
this toxic political ideology.
School investigates Joeckel's class
Students in Joeckel's class read and analyze passages about the topic,
discuss them and write short essays of their own. But he said he does not
express his own opinions on the issues examined and does not require
students to take a certain stance on them.
The school declined to comment on the matter, but its provost said last
month in an internal memo obtained by The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA
TODAY Network, that she was seeking to better understand the pedagogical
rationale for including these extensive lectures in a Composition II
class.
Faculty are free to choose a theme that unifies their Composition II
course, Provost Chelly Templeton wrote. However, it is important that
the Composition II objectives remain the focus of the course.
After administrators alerted Joeckel that he was being investigated, the
professor announced what had happened on Instagram.
Joeckel noted in the Feb. 16 post that he was first told that his contract
would not be renewed until the university completed its investigation on
the same day DeSantis was scheduled to appear at PBAU for a speaking
engagement.
Students campaign in support of Joeckel
The post spread quickly, drawing a campaign by some of Joeckel's students
to protect his job.
Students and former students peppered the university president's office
with calls of support and published a letter signed by more than 300
students and former students. A separate online petition to save his job
has garnered more than 1,800 signatures.
Danielle Hawk, a former student of Joeckel's and an organizer of the
letter drive, said last month that the incident underscored the need for
the school's professors to have more academic protections.
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They got a complaint and his contract was immediately put on pause," she
said. "There was not any sort of due process where they can appeal. They
do not have tenure. So one of the things that we want to see out of this
is a due-process policy created for faculty members.
Professor may seek legal action
The battle over his position may not be over, though. Joeckel has hired an
attorney and said that he may fight his termination in court.
Because PBA took these actions, I will have no choice but to pursue my
legal options to fight back and show PBA, and other institutions, that
they cannot get away with this, he said.
<https://news.yahoo.com/florida-university-fires-professor-racial-
112654710.html>