Wrong Number

A Fresno State University professor who greeted the news of Barbara Bush's death with a classless and brainless tweet (but I repeat myself) drew a lot of ire from people who think that rejoicing in the sadness of human beings over the loss of their loved ones is an inappropriate act.

The professor proved her adult bona fides by taunting people who said she should be fired, claiming she has tenure and earns $100,000 a year. California, of course, is well known for paying a lot of money for a lot of nothing, so the professor does not necessarily stand out.

The professor is, of course, right that she should not be fired for her words. But in a not-too-surprising development, she is wrong about the reason. Fresno State's response makes it clear that she was voicing her own opinions and, for want of a better word, thoughts. She was not representing the university or claiming that her opinions were the opinions of the university. Thus, her speech is protected, and unless Fresno State's employment agreement specifically punishes protected but vile speech with termination she can't be let go.

After the taunting, the professor set her account to private. Unless she specifically allows it, no one can see her tweets, which is a kind gesture but probably too little, too late to raise people's opinion of her. Among the taunts she made was to include a phone number where she could supposedly be reached, but it was actually a suicide and crisis hotline. That particular spasm of maturity could turn around to bite her, especially if there were persons unable to get through on the line because operators were busy with the calls generated by her lying about how to get in touch with her. That kind of malicious mischief might earn her some action on the part of the school or perhaps allow her to take her act on the road to a local courtroom.

Her books have begun to accumulate one-star ratings on Amazon, and her profile at Rate My Professors is restricted. On the one hand, it's sad that people resort to those kinds of juvenile responses. On the other hand the verified ratings at Rate My Professor do say she is inspirational, so I suppose that explains it.