LOUISVILLE, Ky. — An Indiana University professor will not be fired from his position despite backlash from university leadership and students after he tweeted out an article viewed as derogatory towards women.
Eric Rasmusen, a professor at the Kelley School of Business, shared and quoted an article on his personal Twitter titled "Are Women Destroying Academia? Probably."
"It's reading things into what I retweet or quotes I take out," Rasmusen said on the phone to WTHR, WHAS11's sister station in Indianapolis.
Students have spoken out against Rasmusen's post with someone painting "Step Down Rasmusen" and other messages on a bridge on campus.
"For a professor, especially at an esteemed place like the Kelley School of Business, to have those views and say them so publicly is really disheartening and very, very disappointing," Brandon Barnes, a sophomore at IU, said.
"It's a very accepting university, an accepting campus," Mandi Novicoff, a senior at the Kelley School of Law, said. "I am proud to be a student here, so for me to see that, it made me very disheartened."
Novicoff also serves as the president of Women in Business at IU. She is working on a fundraiser, selling sweatshirts that read "Female Genius" and "Support Women in Academia" to raise money for Girls Inc., a nonprofit that seeks to encourage girls and young women.
"It feels so good to have this incredible support that is Indiana University in such an unfortunate time," she said.
The university has also taken a strong stand against Rasmusen's comments. A letter from the university provost wrote in part: "Professor Eric Rasmusen has, for many years, used his private social media accounts to disseminate his racist, sexist, and homophobic views. When I label his views in this way, let me note that the labels are not a close call, nor do his posts require careful parsing to reach these conclusions."
But despite their condemnation, the university also explains that it is unable to fire Rasmusen for his comments on his personal social media accounts.
"We cannot, nor would we, fire Professor Rasmusen for his posts as a private citizen, as vile and stupid as they are, because the First Amendment of the United States Constitution forbids us to do so," the provost's letter wrote. "That is not a close call."
"It's the Constitution," Chuck Carney, IU's director of media relations, said. "It protects my speech. It protects your speech. It protects people being able to say things no matter how abhorrent they are in this circumstance."
The university is making some changes in light of the backlash. Students will no longer be required to take classes taught by Rasmussen and if a class is a requirement for graduation, the school will provide alternatives. Rasmusen will also be required to use double-blind grading, which keeps assignments anonymous. If this is not possible, another faculty member will help with the grading.
In his phone call, Rasmusen admits he did share the article but said his words were taken out of context. He said contrary to the provost's letter, he is not racist, sexist or homophobic.
"It's all their conclusions based on a limited set of things without asking me, 'Do you believe X or do you believe Y?'" he said.
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