University Apologizes After Prof Says Pro-Police Rally Should be Called White Supremacist Rally
“The university issued a statement saying Smith’s view didn’t represent the school.”
The professor was called out by the College Republicans, and the school responded pretty quickly.
FOX News reports:
University apologizes for professor who said pro-police rally should be called ‘white supremacist rally’
A Nebraska Jesuit university apologized Friday on behalf of a professor who tweeted that a pro-police rally in Omaha ought to be retitled a “white supremacist rally.”
The July 7 tweet from Zachary B. Smith, an associate professor of theology at Creighton University, was a retweet of an article from the Omaha World-Herald titled: “‘Back the Blue’ rally in Omaha to show support for law enforcement.”
Smith offered to “fix” the headline to read: “White supremacist rally in Omaha to showcase Midwestern racism,” according to a screenshot of the tweet from Campus Reform.
The tweet drew immediate backlash, including from the Creighton University College Republicans and the Omaha police union.
“The Creighton University College Republicans condemn this disgusting comments about law enforcement posted by Associate Professor Dr. Zachary Smith,” the group tweeted.
The university issued a statement saying Smith’s view didn’t represent the school. Further, the statement said, Smith “regrets his statement and sincerely apologizes for the offense it has caused.”
The Creighton University College Republicans condemn the disgusting comments about law enforcement posted by Associate Professor Dr. Zachary Smith.
Read our full statement below:@dcrponline @NEGOP @OmahaYR @asanderford @PaulHammelOWH @TuckerCarlson pic.twitter.com/ZHWoGZVSXe— Creighton College Republicans (@CU_CollegeRepub) July 10, 2020
Views expressed by a Creighton University faculty member on his personal social media account concerning the Back the Blue event are not those of the University. Additionally, the faculty member regrets his statement and sincerely apologizes for the offense it has caused.
— Creighton University (@Creighton) July 10, 2020
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“faculty member regrets” Think so? Me neither.
Looking at the picture on the front page of Creighton’s Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, I see a pretty diverse bunch of Public Safety officers.
This is exactly the kind of rhetoric we’ve come to expect from the left. I’m sure the professor was shocked to find out that it wasn’t considered perfectly normal and unobjectionable.
If he really regretted it, though, he should have said so himself.
Serious question: Should someone with his views be teaching Roman Catholic theology?
“The university issued a statement saying Smith’s view didn’t represent the school.”
Unfortunately, this is dead wrong. It does represent the school, because the school allows it to do so.
What does “represent the school” mean? If a school is a bunch of buildings and carefully-manicured lawns, or a spot on a map, or even if it’s a history, it doesn’t have a “view”. It can’t articulate anything much. It can only speak through people. People like professors. People like Zachary Smith. If he went through a formal hiring process to be there, then like it or not, he represents the school, and no rote denials from a clueless administration can change that.
I agree with the University distancing themselves from the professor’s statement, but why isn’t he the one apologizing? There’s no acknowledgment of wrongdoing, no statement of remorse, nothing from the professor at all.
We all know that if this was a moderate (to say nothing of a conservative) faculty member at a left-leaning school, they’d be parading around with his head on a pike (figuratively) for his ‘wrong-think.’
Just as the ‘Space Family Robinson” should have pushed their Dr. Zachary Smith out the airlock a few times, maybe it’s time for Creighton University to rid themselves of theirs for their own good.
“In addition to teaching in the Department of Theology, Dr. Smith also teaches in the Honors Program and the Women and Gender Studies Program.”
https://www.creighton.edu/ccas/theology/faculty/zacharybsmith/
“Creighton University, located in Omaha, Nebraska, offers a top-ranked education in the Jesuit tradition”
What is “the Jesuit tradition”?
Deep church?
The admin can claim this clown doesn’t represent Creighton. Fine. Free speech. But is there a word for, “looks like”” Yeah. “resembles”. He was hired, he continues to be employed over the years notwithstanding any other clangers he’s emitted, and he isn’t going to be fired. Which is to say Creighton is okay with him and he’ll have to do a lot worse before they get impatient. So they resemble each other.
And any admin claims about “represent” aren’t likely to be part of the calculation when a parent is trying to figure out where to send The Kid and The Money. Even figuring out a way to completely avoid this guy in any classes on the way to a degree….The Kid is surrounded by an institution which doesn’t have a problem with this guy…and by extension others like him.
Forget it.
Some commenters above me don’t seem to know that Associate Professor means tenured (well, 99.9% of the time anwyays).
Anyhow, the same thing is happening in reverse to Prof WAJ and I’m glad he has that protection to continue to speak his mind.
The United States is a country that is the envy of the world for many reasons. One of the main reasons people from all over the world flock to our shores is because we live under the rule of law. We have a written Constitution and a Bill of Rights that guarantee everyone rights as against the government.
Most citizens are law-abiding. But those who aren’t, and who commit crimes, must be held accountable.
Well-trained, properly funded police forces who follow the rules are necessary to uphold the rule of law and protect all of us. Police officers, like military personnel or other first responders, deserve our support and respect.
I am a strong supporter of the police forces in America but believe that ALL public government employees should not have the right to unionize. This will assist the managers in eliminating troubled, under-performing, and malcontent employees who can’t or won’t conform to the policies/procedures of the department. The same could be said for eliminating tenure for professors.