U. Nebraska-Lincoln Fires Lecturer Accused of Harassing Conservative Student

U. Nebraska-Lincoln Fires Lecturer Accused of Harassing Conservative Student

The student in this case was innocently standing at a table on campus handing out literature about a conservative organization. The lecturer was completely in the wrong.

The Omaha World-Herald reports:

Lecturer accused of harassing conservative student will no longer work at UNL; 2 PR officials also out

University of Nebraska officials announced Friday that new steps are being taken in relation to an incident involving a conservative student Aug. 25.

NU President Hank Bounds said the graduate student-lecturer who called a conservative student a “neo-fascist” for recruiting for Turning Point USA would no longer teach at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The World-Herald further learned that the lecturer, Courtney Lawton, will be released from employment completely when her contract expires at the end of the school year.

Bounds also sent Gov. Pete Ricketts and Nebraska’s state senators a letter that cites various actions that reflect “the importance of open conversation that respects each other’s differences” on campus.

One of those is to have Gallup do a survey to assess the campus environment for people of diverse political backgrounds on NU’s campuses in Omaha, Lincoln and Kearney.

NU also released emails as a result of public records requests by Conservative Review and other organizations. Some emails indicated UNL public relations staffers were eager to spin the story and “have a surrogate(s) submit op-eds” to the Omaha World-Herald and Lincoln Journal Star as “aggressive counter-measures” to coverage of the matter.

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