Georgetown Law Professor Reinstated After Investigation of Tweets

JUN 5 2022·Updated FEB 8 2024

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Image credit: Acton Institute/YouTube [via National Review]

The Facts

Georgetown University reinstated law professor Ilya Shapiro after a four-month-long investigation into a series of tweets he posted about affirmative action. He resumed work Friday.
Daily Caller
Shapiro had been on administrative leave since Jan. for comments about Pres. Biden's promise to nominate a Black woman for the Supreme Court.
wapo
His remarks included saying the nominee would always have an "asterisk attached" and polling his followers if Biden's promise is considered "racist, sexist, both or neither." He later deleted the tweets and apologized.
wapo
Georgetown's human resources department and the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Affirmative Action led the investigation. Ultimately, the university decided that Shapiro wasn't subject to Georgetown's rules at the time of his tweets since he hadn't officially started as an employee.
Daily Caller
The law school's dean released an email saying that, despite being cleared, Shapiro's comments had a "significant negative impact" on the community.
wapo
Shapiro will take university-mandated anti-bias training and has been told to make himself available to meet with any students who have concerns about his beliefs.
Reuters

Sources Split

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RIGHT

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The Spin

Right narrative

Shapiro's tweets were ill-worded and thoughtless, as he himself noted in his apology, but are not grounds for being fired. Political speech is protected and the very fact that Georgetown University put him on leave brings to question their stance on freedom of expression and academic freedom - which should both be fundamental to a university.

The Fire

Left narrative

Shapiro is not the victim in this story. As a law professor, he's in a position of power with his students and a role model to the greater community. Tweeting such offensive remarks about affirmative action erodes trust in his beliefs and abilities. No student should feel fearful entering the classroom, but that's exactly the situation he has willingly created.