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Texas Tech University placed an assistant professor on leave Monday for a series of alleged social media comments university officials called “hateful, antisemitic and unacceptable.”
The Texas Tribune cited an email from Lawrence Schovanec, Texas Tech’s president, and Tedd Mitchell, chancellor of the Texas Tech University System, saying that comments allegedly made by the professor, Jairo Fúnez-Flores, on social media were “antithetical” to the university’s values, according to its ethical code of conduct.
The university did not provide examples or details about the comments made by Fúnez-Flores, an assistant professor of curriculum and instruction in the College of Education, but the system’s Office of Equal Opportunity is now investigating whether he made similar comments in the classroom or work environment, according to the Tribune.
“We take the First Amendment’s application to public universities seriously,” Schovanec and Mitchell said in a joint statement. “However, we are also committed to providing a safe learning and working environment that is free from harassment, including antisemitic harassment, and will not tolerate behavior that crosses the line into harassment and interferes with or limits the ability of an individual to participate in the educational activities of Texas Tech University.”
The statement also noted a recent warning from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, which said universities could be found in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 if they do not quickly respond to discriminatory harassment on campus, “such as antisemitic harassment.”
University and system officials will not make any further comments on this matter until the investigation is completed, the statement said.
