Psychology professor was caught on video making racist and xenophobic comments against employees at a local business. Now, some students are calling for him to be fired. The president of the college and the dean of the faculty released a statement and said that the video shows a faculty member making offensive and racist comments at a local business. The college professor reportedly apologized to the employees involved and said he was committed to improve his actions and to educate himself further regarding the profound negative impact of discrimination.
The video was shared on social media and reportedly showed a man in the driver’s seat of a vehicle saying “…hiring illegal immigrants” to the worker.
The man, who was later identified as, Paul Currie, a psychology professor at Reed College (private liberal arts college), then asks the person if they were born in the U.S. When the unidentified woman says they were, the professor asks: “Where?” “Here,” the person replies. “Here’s where?” he then asks.
The professor then turns towards the passenger-side window, where another person appears to have taken offense to his questioning.
The video has more than 30,000 shares and more than 380,000 views since it was posted on the platform.
Audrey Bilger, the president of Reed College and Kathy Oleson, dean of the faculty and a professor of psychology, released a statement and said that the video shows a faculty member making offensive and racist comments at a local business.
Audrey Bilger, the president of Reed College, reportedly said: “We express our support for the employees insulted in the video. This matter has our full attention, both to ascertain the accuracy of the video, to engage a valued member of our community in conversation about what it appears to show, and to follow our guidelines for addressing discriminatory speech.”
Newsweek reports that the psychology professor Currie apologized for his reprehensible behavior in an email to students, faculty and staff: “First and foremost, I would like to sincerely apologize to all of you,” he said in the email, according to a screenshot shared on Twitter. “I know I have deeply offended you and for that I am truly sorry. There is no excuse to ever engage in offensive and discriminatory behavior and I accept full responsibility for my actions.”
He also apologized to the employees involved and said he was committed to improve his actions and to educate himself further regarding the profound negative impact of discrimination.
Some students are calling for the firing of the college professor.
But some students are calling for the professor to be fired. YDSA released a statement and said that the professor was targeting service workers with racist and xenophobic abuse. YDSA condemned his actions and call for his firing from Reed immediately.
Kathy Oleson, dean of the faculty, released the following statement: “The processes for investigating and disciplining a tenured faculty member are handled directly by the faculty. While the faculty member is currently on sabbatical and not teaching, it is my hope that the faculty committees involved in these procedures will resolve their work prior to the beginning of the fall semester.
I recognize and understand the desire for immediate action, and we will address the matter as swiftly as possible. I ask for your understanding as we move through our confidential processes.”
@_michelle3_0 What we have to deal with 🤦🏽♀️ #fyp #portlandoregon #vivamexico🇲🇽 ♬ original sound – Michelle Gonzalez