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Drexel University’s George Ciccariello-Maher, best known for infamously tweeting out last year that all he wanted for Christmas was a “white genocide,” has resigned from his position citing a personal situation that “has become unsustainable.”
Philly.com reports the politics and global studies prof claims he’s endured “a year of harassment by right-wing, white supremacist media outlets and internet mobs,” as well as “death threats and threats of violence” against himself and his family.”
“Staying at Drexel in the eye of this storm has become detrimental to my own writing, speaking, and organizing,” he said.
https://twitter.com/ciccmaher/status/946435825755148288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Feducation%2Fgeorge-ciccariello-maher-leaving-drexel-twitter-controversy-20171228.html
Most recently, Ciccariello-Maher made the news by suggesting that mass shootings in Las Vegas and Texas were due to the “power structure of whiteness.” Drexel had placed him on leave for similar remarks regarding the former incident.
In the lengthy post, Ciccariello-Maher went on to comment on free speech on college campuses, remarking that “we are at war, and academia is a crucial front in that war.”
Ciccariello-Maher also included messages to faculty and his students, who he said have “earned [his] admiration and the admiration of many by standing up for [their] rights.”
“In the face of aggression from the racist Right and impending global catastrophe, we must defend our universities, our students, and ourselves by defending the most vulnerable among us and by making our campuses unsafe spaces for white supremacists,” he wrote in the Thursday afternoon message. …
Drexel confirmed that Ciccariello-Maher had resigned, citing his decision “to pursue other opportunities.”
“Drexel University has accepted his resignation and recognizes the significant scholarly contributions that Professor Ciccariello-Maher has made to the field of political thought and his service to the Drexel University community as an outstanding classroom teacher,” the university said in a statement. “Drexel University wishes Professor Ciccariello-Maher well in his future pursuits.”
Back in October the prof had threatened to take “all necessary legal action” to defend his “academic freedom, tenure rights, and […] the rights of my students to learn in a safe environment where threats don’t hold sway over intellectual debate.”
MORE: Students stage sit-in protest over absence of ‘white genocide’ professor
MORE: ‘White genocide’ prof remains defiant, offers no contrition
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