Fresno State investigating professor who attacked Barbara Bush after her death
California State University Fresno said it is investigating a professor who attacked former first lady Barbara Bush after she died.
University President Joseph Castro denounced the “horrible” and “disrespectful” tweet from English professor Randa Jarrar, according to The Fresno Bee.
“A professor with tenure does not have blanket protection to say and do what they wish,” he said on Wednesday. “We are all held accountable for our actions.”
Jarrar had tweeted hours after Bush’s death, calling her a “generous and smart and amazing racist who, along with her husband, raised a war criminal.”
“F–k outta here with your nice words,” she wrote in a tweet. {mosads}
Jarrar has since made her Twitter account private.
In a subsequent tweet, Jarrar reportedly said she is a tenured professor and makes $100,000 a year.
“I will never be fired,” Jarrar tweeted.
University Provost Lynnette Zelezny rejected that notion, however, at a press conference on Wednesday.
“Does tenure mean that you, technically, cannot be fired? The answer to that is no,” Zelezny said.
Castro declined to comment to The Fresno Bee about the specifics of the investigation but said they were reviewing the facts and the faculty’s collective bargaining agreement.
“This was beyond free speech. This was disrespectful,” Castro said.
Bush died on Tuesday at the age of 92.
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