Saint Joseph’s U. Admits Prof Did Not Violate Policies by Criticizing Slavery Reparations

A math professor at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has been vindicated after being suspended for social media posts criticizing slavery reparations. It remains unclear, however, whether the university will rehire the professor at the end of his current contract.

Saint Joseph’s University administrators completed their three-month investigation into professor Gregory Manco’s Twitter history determining it is not possible to conclude that he violated any campus policies by criticizing slavery reparations, according to a report by College Fix.

“The potential outcomes of an investigation include a finding of more likely than not that a violation of policy occurred, a finding of more likely than not that a violation of policy did not occur, or no determination could be made,” said Gail Benner, director of the school’s public relations.

“In this case, a definitive determination could not be made due to insufficient evidence,” Benner added.

While Manco says he feels vindicated, the professor added that the investigation should never have happened in the first place, and pointed out that the university has yet to renew his contract.

“It is obvious when you read our faculty handbook and anti-discrimination policy that there never should’ve been an investigation in the first place — not to mention my immediate, mid-semester removal from the classroom and baseball field, without any due process regarding that extreme measure,” Manco told the College Fix.

Manco has been an assistant professor of math at Saint Joseph’s since 2005, and has also been a volunteer assistant baseball coach.

“While the external investigation has vindicated me, it is still ultimately up to the university to renew my contract as I am full-time but non-tenured,” the professor continued. “This usually happens each year in late spring so I will know soon.”

In one of the tweets in question, Manco wrote, “Suppose your great-great-grandfather murdered someone. The victim’s great-great-grandson knocks on your door, shows you the newspaper clipping from 1905, and demands compensation from you. Your response? Now get this racist reparation bullshit out of your head for good.”

“So if these numbers are true about peoples’ perceptions of racism, what does it say about all of the race/bias ‘training’ that has been going on for some years now?” the professor wrote in another tweet. “Could it be that such training actually divides us and *worsens* race relations?”

In February, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) called on Saint Joseph’s to end its investigation into Manco, stating that “Manco’s tweets, although offensive to some, do not fall under the First Amendment’s limited categories of unprotected expression,” and that the school “may not punish Manco for his protected extramural expression.”

The organization also pointed out that the professor had been tweeting under a personal account, which didn’t even include his name or affiliation with the university.

 

A Change.org petition, titled, “Support and Save Dr. Greg Manco of Saint Joseph’s University from Cancel Culture,” has also been launched.

Saint Joseph’s University did not immediately respond to Breitbart News’ request for comment.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, on Parler at @alana, and on Instagram.