Alumni of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, are demanding the school cut ties with controversial professor Johnny Eric Williams who called for the death of Congressman Steve Scalise earlier this year.
Earlier this year, Trinity College professor Johnny Eric Williams was suspended from his position after he posted a series of comments on social media that seemingly justified violence against Congressman Steve Scalise and white Americans in general.
“It is past time for the racially oppressed to do what people who believe themselves to be ‘white’ will not do, put end to the vectors of their destructive mythology of whiteness and their white supremacy system. #LetThemFuckingDie,” Williams wrote on Facebook earlier this year.
Williams also shared an anonymously-authored Medium post entitled “Let Them Fucking Die,” which argued that the first responders to the congressional shooting should have let Representative Scalise and others die. The inflammatory blog post called on minorities to refuse assistance to whites in potentially fatal situations, like choking, bleeding out, or drowning. The post then calls for those persons to not only watch as others die but to “smile” as they watch, for letting them die is a “great service” to the “universe.”
Now, as Williams is set to return to his position, alumni are demanding that the school cut ties with him. According to a Campus Reform report, the controversy surrounding Williams has already cost Trinity $200,000 in alumni donations.
One alumnus, John Leisenring, wrote that he was profoundly disappointed that Williams would be returning to his post in the classroom.
“One of the hallmarks of my experience entering political discussion was the respect we all had for our professors, administrators, and fellow students. Whether you were conservative, liberal, a Democrat, a Republican, or an Independent, your views may not be agreed with, but were always given a measure of respect and dignity when they were expressed,” he wrote. “It is with genuine sadness that I feel compelled to correspond with you to express my concern that this political tolerance and intellectual respect are no longer values that Trinity College accepts or instills in its professors.”
Leisenring has circulated a petition that calls for Williams’ termination. So far, it only has slightly over 200 signatures.
“We urge President Sweeney and the Board of Trustees to reconsider their decision to look the other way, uphold the integrity of the college and ask Professor Williams to clear out his desk and take his hate somewhere else,” the petition reads.
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