The University of Tennessee (UT) admitted in a statement on Wednesday that one of its professors made antisemitic comments during a classroom lecture, but said it could not go into details out of respect for the students’ privacy.
In a statement, UT Director of News and Information Tyra Haag (pictured above) distributed to the media late Wednesday, the university claimed it “has addressed concerns about a class lecture that included several comments” that fall under the “working definition of antisemitism developed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance” in 2016.
That group defines antisemitism as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
The Tennessee Star contacted the university to determine if the professor was disciplined for the antisemitic comments, whether the professor apologized to the students, and whether the professor who made the comments is tenured, but did not receive a response prior to press time.
Though the university did not characterize the comments beyond “antisemitic,” the university acknowledged its “professor fell short of how instructors should present complex and painful issues in a classroom.” The university cited the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) for its inability to share details but claimed it notified the affected students of their right to file a complaint alleging violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act “and university policy.”
The university did not reply to a comment request from The Star that asked whether any student submitted an official complaint.
In its statement, the university did not say whether any corrective actions were taken against the professor, nor did it name the professor in the statement. Instead, the university claimed it “outlined expectations and concerns with the leadership of the college, who have addressed them with the faculty member.”
It concluded its statement by claiming “there is no place that are or could be construed as antisemitic in any class taught at UT.”
The admission came just over a week after Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Tim Scott (R-SC) introduced legislation that would defund colleges and universities deemed to promote antisemitism.
Blackburn’s bill was created following Hamas terrorists’ devastating October 7 surprise attack on Israel, when student groups across the United States largely backed the terrorist group. In a statement, Blackburn charged that the “federal government should not be giving one dollar to colleges and universities that aid and abet antisemitic student groups who glorify acts of terrorism.”
The university reported record enrollment on October 10, with nearly 60,000 students enrolled in the university system.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Georgia Star News, and also reports for The Tennessee Star and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “University of Tennessee, Knoxville Campus” by University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Time to take out the trash at UT.
The professor in question should resign immediately. If not, school administration should dismiss him without cause.
As a Tennessee Taxpayer, I want our Legislature to withhold funding from UT or any school that gets taxpayer funding, and allow hate propaganda to be indoctrinated into our future leaders minds. Like a lot of colleges, they are inundated with woke “professors”. I’d like to know how many Left leaning woke professors our tax dollars salaries we pay,cas opposed to conservative professors. I’d rather see my tax dollars go to Trade Schools, so we can bring good paying jobs back to the Middle Class in Tennessee.
I want the name of this professor, who apparently thought he was allowed to promote Hate the Jews propaganda in his class. Not only should he be identified & fired, but he should be deemed ineligible to teach in any TN school from grades K through college. If we are allowing terrorist propaganda to be promoted in our schools, our children will never know the truth about the Holocaust & genocide taking place by terrorists around the globe. Their #1 goal in life is to kill non-believers. They believe when they die, Mohammed will give them 23 virgins. They chant on daily basis ” Death to America, the Great Satan”. We know there are Hamas cells located across America ( maybe a few in Congress) bc Obama allowed ” refugees” from terrorist countries to resettle here & no assimilation or love for this country. There are actually No Go zones in MI & MN, that dont allow police officers into their community. They practice Sharia Law. They don’t recognize the US Constitution or laws. They hate Homosexuals. Hamas implants are looking to radicalized young people, who are ignorant of their barbaric Ideology. ISIS was destroyed thanks to Trump, but Joe Biden removed the crippling sanctions on Iran (the largest funder of terrorism in the world) & recently gave them $6B, which gave them the go ahead for the Hamas attack on Israel. The Hamas Leaders are Billionaires who live in Qatar. The Radical Palestinians live in squalor bc they voted for Hamas to run their so called govenment.
On the other hand, Israel allowed moderate Palestinians to come into Israel to work & make a living. Frankly, God gave the land from the river to the sea to Israel, so once they pulverize Hamas into non-existence, they should keep Gaza, which has beautiful beaches, & has the potential to offer a prosperous tourism industry there.
If this professor had any class, any insight, he would resign immediately. If University Administration had any backbone and are truly intolerant of antisemitism, they would fire the individual by the day’s end. This is not an issue of free speech;, it is an issue of hate speech and has no place on any university.
Randy Boyd and Donde Plowman should be held responsible for not immediately firing this so called “Proffessor”. The lack of leadership and support of this type of behavior is despicable. Hiding behind policy written to allow this type of hate is inexcusable As is often the case, the lefts intolerance of those who do not agree with their sick vile world view have their reputations and livelihood destroyed publicly, but one of their own are protected. Advocating for the the destruction of Freedom and Liberty and personal responsibility appears to be job one at The University of Tennessee.