Another college professor (see previous story here) is in hot water for online rants (story here).
Thomas Brennan (photo, left), an assistant professor of physical sciences at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan, which has over 14,000 students, is on administrative leave pending investigation of alleged postings that allegedly include “racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic” slurs, along with claims the moon landing was faked and the pandemic is a “leftist stunt.” Read the college’s official statement here.
The campus newspaper, FSU Torch, said Brennan frequented Gab, which Wikipedia describes as “alt-tech social networking service known for its far-right userbase … widely described as a haven for extremists including neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and the alt-right, and has attracted users and groups who have been banned from other social networks” (read their story here), and published screen grabs of some of his posts (images below).
Brennan denied being racist and responded, “This controversy started after I made a few statements in a College of Arts and Sciences meeting of faculty and staff … to the effect that I believe the COVID-19 pandemic is a stunt designed to enslave humanity and strip us of all of our rights and freedoms.” In one tweet, a poster who appeared to be Brennan referred to Biden voters as “zombie n*****s” and said there is “no reason to consider their ideas.”
Republicans don’t get punished for this kind of stuff; they get elected to Congress. Universities are a bit more rigorous in their expectations of intellectual open-mindedness and social responsibility, and I suspect this individual may not have a job when the dust settles.
Ya know, I understand how this could happen; a person can be high-IQ, able to do fancy math, know all about physics and formulas and such, and not know squat about anything else. Or have any common sense. A university campus isn’t the local GOP club, and an instructor who for whatever reason chooses to be a homophobic and racist whackjob trafficking in crazy conspiracy theories probably shouldn’t be broadcasting those eccentricites on a neo-Nazi website under his real name. College students working for campus newspapers know how to unearth those things.
