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Oberlin College fires Prof. Joy Karega after antisemitic Facebook posts

Oberlin College fires Prof. Joy Karega after antisemitic Facebook posts

We take a stroll through the antisemitic batsh-t crazy World of Karega

You may remember Joy Karega, the Oberlin College “Social Justice Writing” Professor who put numerous anti-Semitic posts and graphics on Facebook.

Karega was a supporter of the anti-Israel boycott movement, and hosted an event promoting BDS right around the time the controversy over her Facebook posts erupted. But she wasn’t questioned and didn’t get in trouble for her anti-Israel views. Those views, unfortunately, are all the rage at Oberlin and other liberal campuses.

Rather, her Facebook posting clearly veered into rank antisemitism. Like this one alleging a conspiracy by the Rothschilds to rule the world:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=633048080132641&set=a.527369037367213.1073741827.100002823641958&type=3&permPage=1

Not only was Karega not apologetic, she played the victim, Oberlin Prof. who posted antisemitic memes says she’s a victim of racism. Eventually Karega was placed on paid-leave for the fall semester pending review of her status.

As incredible as it might seem, pro-BDS groups on campus rallied around Karega, claiming she is the victim of a witch hunt and condemning an alumni group who complained about Karega. I guess that’s not so surprising, considering the attempt by Oberlin Black Lives Matter students to financially damage a local bakery that had one of their members arrested for shoplifting.

Yesterday Karega was fired effective immediately. The following statement was issued by Oberlin on November 15:

The Oberlin College Board of Trustees, after extensive consideration and a comprehensive review of recommendations from multiple faculty committees and Oberlin President Marvin Krislov, has voted to dismiss Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Composition Joy D. Karega for failing to meet the academic standards that Oberlin requires of its faculty and failing to demonstrate intellectual honesty.

The dismissal is effective Tuesday, November 15, 2016.

As a Board, we agree with President Krislov and every faculty committee reviewing this matter that the central issues are Dr. Karega’s professional integrity and fitness. We affirm Oberlin’s historic and ongoing commitment to academic freedom.

During this process, which began with Dr. Karega’s posting of anti-Semitic writings on social media, Dr. Karega received numerous procedural protections: she was represented by counsel; she presented witness testimony, documents, and statements to support her position; and she had the opportunity to cross-examine witnesses testifying against her.

The faculty review process examined whether Dr. Karega had violated the fundamental responsibilities of Oberlin faculty members – namely, adherence to the “Statement of Professional Ethics” of the American Association of University Professors, which requires faculty members to “accept the obligation to exercise critical self-discipline and judgment in using, extending and transmitting knowledge” and to “practice intellectual honesty.”

Contrary to this obligation, Dr. Karega attacked her colleagues when they challenged inconsistencies in her description of the connection between her postings and her scholarship. She disclaimed all responsibility for her misconduct. And she continues to blame Oberlin and its faculty committees for undertaking a shared governance review process.

For these reasons, the faculty review committees and President Krislov agreed on the seriousness of Dr. Karega’s misconduct. Indeed, the majority of the General Faculty Council, the executive body of Oberlin’s faculty, concluded that Dr. Karega’s postings could not be justified as part of her scholarship and had “irreparably impaired (her) ability to perform her duties as a scholar, a teacher, and a member of the community.”

In the face of Dr. Karega’s repeated refusal to acknowledge and remedy her misconduct, her continued presence undermines the mission and values of Oberlin’s academic community. Thus, any sanction short of dismissal is insufficient and the Board of Trustees is compelled to take this most serious action.

In a Facebook post Karega threatened litigation:

I know the news is coming in. Trust me, this is not a surprise. I’ve been dealing with the persecution, incompetent leadership, and discrimination from Oberlin College since March. No surprise here.

I will be issuing an official statement soon. I could easily release a “Kiss My Ass” statement. I would be MORE than justified in doing so. But that is not my style. I choose my weapons CAREFULLY and STRATEGICALLY. And trust, I have done that. There will be a challenge and defense of my rights, using ALL the avenues I have available to me — litigation, public, etc. The pathway for that has already been laid….

Here is the full Karega:

joy-karega-facebook-post-re-firing

joy-karega-facebook-post-re-firing-2

So far, the BDS movement has kept its distance from Karega, perhaps recognizing that she’s a liability because of her clear antisemitism. While many boycotters harbor similar feelings, they at least try not to let it show. Karega put it all out there.

While it’s probably not over, this would be a good time to take a stroll through the antisemitic batshit crazy World of Karega:

[Facebook posting by Oberlin Colllege professor Joy Karega]

https://www.facebook.com/jakare01/posts/644193039018145

https://www.facebook.com/jakare01/posts/643642179073231

https://www.facebook.com/jakare01/posts/644038165700299

https://www.facebook.com/jakare01/posts/759447054159409

https://www.facebook.com/jakare01/posts/789611551142959

https://www.facebook.com/jakare01?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/jakare01/posts/656517691119013

We will continue to follow the World of Karega, including student reaction to her firing.

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Comments

legacyrepublican | November 16, 2016 at 7:15 am

Not a bad decision Oberlin. Get rid of her poison asap.

Pretty soon she would have been teaching her students that the Jews orchestrated and successfully executed the holocaust in order to take over the Arab lands of the Middle East and eventually steal Jerusalem from them on the orders of the Rothchilds.

It may sound absurd, but that is where her inane and flawed logic leads you.

On top of the antisemitism, she’s a conspiracy nutjob.
Good riddance.

Well, that sure took a long time.

I wonder how long it would take them to handle the tough cases.

“During this process, which began with Dr. Karega’s posting of anti-Semitic writings on social media, Dr. Karega received numerous procedural protections: she was represented by counsel; she presented witness testimony, documents, and statements to support her position; and she had the opportunity to cross-examine witnesses testifying against her.”

Hmm… Does Oberlin provide the same procedural protections to male students accused of alleged sex “crimes”?

/Rhetorical

Well, hold on one bit. Your first example of “rank anti-semitism” is a goofy poster against the Rothschild’s. That is a dumb example. It is no more valid as “anti-semitism” than labeling Trump as misogynistic because he criticized Rosie O’Donnell.

    Immolate in reply to fche. | November 16, 2016 at 9:08 am

    Are you hoping to prove the superiority of your sense of fairness, or do you really think that this former educator was incorrectly dismissed? The former would be petty, while the latter would require a more-robust effort.

    Milhouse in reply to fche. | November 16, 2016 at 11:16 am

    Yes, it is an example of rank antisemitism, because antisemitism is the only reason anyone has ever demonized the Rothschilds. Every single accusation ever made against them has been motivated by one thing: antisemitism. There simply isn’t any other reason why anyone would or ever has done so.

    For that matter, the only reason anyone has ever attacked the Rockefeller family is the mistaken belief that they are Jewish!

    It’s similar to the way that any attack on the Koch brothers is an example of insane hatred of Republicans, because there is simply no other reason why anyone would ever want to attack them. They’ve never done anything to attract criticism except fund right-wing causes.

    Casey in reply to fche. | November 16, 2016 at 1:02 pm

    I suggest you read some of of the other stuff posted in this article. This woman has gone full anti-Semite.

Some years ago Oberlin chose Mumia (convicted cop killer) as their commencement speaker. He did speak via video conference.
This is a college that needs a wake up call. They tread on dangerous ground.

    Being they are kindred spirits with the lunatic that was ‘fired’ (look for her to be hired immediately in a lateral or superior teaching position) they have nothing to wake up to.

    We are the ones who need to wake up, and demand our lawmakers drain the swamp at our universities.

DouglasJBender | November 16, 2016 at 9:41 am

That original Joy Karega Facebook profile pic: Those full, pouting lips…that busty, bouncy, full display of cleavage. If those aren’t impressive academic bona fides, I don’t know what would be.

Wow. Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Composition is a paid position? She should have been gone on nothing more glorious than a budget cut.

Steve_in_SoCal | November 16, 2016 at 9:55 am

“Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Composition”

WTF?

“I was fired because I am black” 3 . . 2 . . 1

I dig the “to those that asked me to speak – I couldn’t – but now I can” angle?

Yeah, MSNBC pays a couple of hundred bucks for a 5 minute spot. But I don’t think even MSNBC is going to touch this one.

College campuses are literally Allice in Wonderland dystonic adventures, even to just walk across, let alone try to live in! Perhaps–only perhaps–Trump’s election may allow Americans to begin talking to each other again? I’ll say too that holding job interviews without safe spaces or trigger warnings are so easy nowadays . . . .

As an alum and donor, I have a bit of insight on this. The decision to fire was financial, the rest is window-dressing, though no doubt sincerely believed. I give them credit for holding out as long as they did, but it was going to cost them big. Are her remarks anti-Semitic? Borderline. Is she a weak-minded dupe? Assuredly. Does she deserve to be fired? Ask, rather, why was she hired in the first place.

Let’s see. She got the Rothschilds, and the Trilateral Commission, but failed to include the Bilderbergs.

I was lead to believe that these are all far Right wing, we’re talking Bircher territory here, boogiemen.

The SJW’s may say she was fired because she’s a black female. But from reading her posts I see she was fired because she’s an idiot.

Lots of conspiracy posts. These have to be true as a liberal believes them. Ufos and extraterrestrials aren’t far behind.

Antisemitic is incorrect and you should take it out of your title.

The entire pattern–from the Rothschilds to weather manipulation–is Alex Jones territory.

And accusing Mossad or the CIA of false flags is also NOT antisemitism. It’s certainly out of the mainstream but it is not about Jews or Jewishness. It’s about the fact that intelligence agencies have black ops and the speculation (or paranoia) that goes with them.

    Arguable re antisemitism being incorrect.

    Amazing how a tiny nation – the only democracy in a giant region of the world – is the whipping boy of the likes of this so-called educator, and killers of innocent Jews are her heroes.

    Good riddance.

I may be wrong, but this looks like a free speech issue. The woman is batcrap crazy, but she has an unalienable right to express herself.

It looks as if Oberlin cut her loose because they’re more worried about their image than anything else. As Professor Jacobson has pointed out, her position on many issues is not uncommon at the College.

I suspect that after the negative publicity garnered by the NFL, the Mizzou “protests” of last year, etc, Oberlin is worried about a drop in new applications and/or contributions.

If you look at the past 20 or 30 years, colleges & universities have made a special point of protecting the right of teachers to freely express themselves; if memory serves “speaking truth to power” is a preferred motto. I suggest we respect that tradition and fully support Ms. Karega’s right to speak her mind, even if it’s a very short speech.

Once she has successfully regained her position at Oberlin, we make her the face of the school, which is I suspect what the faculty is afraid of.

A piece of advice for Ms. Karega: never go full progressive.

Casey, this is not a free speech issue. A fact you would understand if you actually read the standards to which she failed to adhere.

Statement of Professional Ethics” of the American Association of University Professors, which requires faculty members to “accept the obligation to exercise critical self-discipline and judgment in using, extending and transmitting knowledge” and to “practice intellectual honesty.”

Regardless of politics, an educator cannot be considered effective if she imparts knowledge that is false. Is a math teacher proclaiming 2+2=5 a discussion of free speech, or incompetence? It is no different than this nut saying you can believe Mossad was behind Hebdo or you can remain ignorant. The same for the CIA being behind Boko Haram. Such actions clearly do not exhibit “self discipline….transmitting knowledge.”

    tarheelkate in reply to Jazzizhep. | November 16, 2016 at 8:43 pm

    Her expressed views were repellent and insane. No argument there.

    Did she express these views IN CLASS? If it was entirely on her Facebook page, and her criticisms of colleagues were not on campus or in person, then I wonder if the college might not lose in court. Consider Mike Adams, who won a case against UNC-Wilmington for discrimination on the job based on his opinions expressed outside the job and off campus. In that case, I agreed with Adams’ opinions, and of course I don’t agree with this nutcase.

    Adams had tenure and was denied promotion; this fool seems not to be tenured. That may make a legal difference.

Milhouse: The Rand Corporation, in conjunction with the saucer people…
Bart: Thank you.
Milhouse: …under the supervision of the reverse vampires…
Lisa: [sighs]
Milhouse: …are forcing our parents to go to bed early in a fiendish plot to eliminate the meal of dinner! We’re through the looking glass here, people.