Attorney and former UCLA lecturer Keith Fink claims that he was let go from his position at the university for “purely political” reasons.
Speaking to Breitbart News, former UCLA lecturer Keith Fink explained how he was ousted from the university for what he believes were “purely political” reasons.
“The decision was purely political,” he began. “By UCLA’s own metrics I had the highest ratings of any teacher in the entire department. I laid out in great detail to Dean Gomez how I easily met the criteria to be deemed excellent and continue teaching at UCLA. It shouldn’t be forgotten the prior chairs of the department both thought I was an outstanding teacher and they kept giving me additional classes to teach. The students love my classes.”
Fink is correct about his student’s love for his classes. According to university-administered student evaluations provided to Breitbart News by Fink, he received overwhelmingly high marks in all categories, including the category of “overall instructor quality.”
“Faced with no facts to justify letting me go because I didn’t meet UCLA’s excellence criteria, Dean Gomez letter is thus bereft of any analysis to support the decision by the school. I am the most outspoken teacher (or was) on campus, and the school hated my persuasive and impassioned lectures on such topics as students’ free speech rights as well as the process in Title IX proceedings, both of which UCLA trample,” he continued.
Fink claimed that some in his department were upset over his appearance on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News program.
“Professor [Kerri] Johnson was livid that I went on Tucker Carlson’s show which is quite ironic given she is the head of a Communications Department,” Fink claimed, adding that he had heard about Johnson’s reaction from another colleague. “After the appearances on the show, the department received scores of letters from upset alumni and students. I don’t think ultimately it had any effect as the outcome here was preordained.”
“Professor Johnson who never met me until this year has stated she never liked me and thought someone with my views shouldn’t teach in the department,” Fink added.
Despite his frustrations, Fink claims that he had great relationships with previous chairs of the communications department, who he says “believed in academic freedom and loved [his] classes.”
Tom Ciccotta is a libertarian who writes about economics and higher education for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @tciccotta or email him at tciccotta@breitbart.com
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