150 Faculty members at Chapman University in Orange, California, are calling on the school to fire a professor who spoke at the “Save America March” at the White House in Washington, DC.
Chapman University is facing calls to fire law professor John Eastman after he spoke on stage at the White House alongside Rudy Giuliani last week.
“Eastman spouted lies about ‘secret folders’ to fire up an angry crowd and stood next to Rudy Giuliani who called for ‘trial by combat,'” read a letter signed by over 150 Chapman faculty members calling on the school to fire Eastman.
“These conspiratorial claims of a stolen election were the basis of the insurrection,” the faculty members added.
The letter went on to claim that while “free speech is sacred,” professor Eastman has “abused” it.
“Free speech is sacred, and tenured academics like Eastman have the privilege of speaking their mind without fear of repercussion. But Eastman abused that freedom,” the letter stated.
“On this basis, it is time to move beyond President Struppa’s defense of free speech, to respond to a new situation, a very real threat, and an effort to destroy our democracy,” the faculty members added. “He does not belong on our campus.”
In response, Chapman University President Daniele Struppa has issued two statements explaining that he will not fire the professor.
“The manual allows for the termination of faculty who are disbarred, however, that is not the case today,” said Struppa in his second statement.
“The Manual does not allow me to decide on my own that any faculty is a criminal or that they should be disbarred and therefore fired, which is what I am being asked to do,” added Struppa. “The Manual says that if a jury finds a faculty member to be guilty of a felony, or if they are disbarred, then the university can dismiss them.”
“The university has no right to substitute itself for these formal bodies,” added Struppa.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, on Parler at @alana, and on Instagram.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.