The Drexel University professor who was placed on administrative leave in October after his tweets blaming “Trumpism” and the “narrative of white victimization” for the mass shooting in Las Vegas sparked an onslaught of death threats has announced he is resigning.
George Ciccariello-Maher, associate professor of political science, announced Thursday on Twitter that his resignation, effective Dec. 31, is not a decision he takes lightly.
“[H]owever, after nearly a year of prolonged harassment by right-wing white supremacist media outlets and internet mobs, after death threats and threats of violence directed against me and my family, my situation has grown unsustainable,” he wrote in a lengthy statement. “Staying at Drexel in the eye of this storm has become detrimental to my own writing, speaking, and organizing.”
After December 31st, 2017, I will no longer work at Drexel University. pic.twitter.com/bAM37dbv1q
— George Ciccariello (@ciccmaher) December 28, 2017
Drexel said in a statement Thursday that Mr. Ciccariello-Maher decided to resign “in order to pursue other opportunities,” Campus Reform reported.
“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 statement said. “Drexel University wishes Professor Ciccariello-Maher well in his future pursuits.”
The school had placed Mr. Ciccariello-Maher on leave back in October, citing numerous threats that had been made against him and the campus community. He played several threatening messages for CNN in a report Friday, but said the ones targeting his children were the most chilling.
The threats allegedly started one year ago after Mr. Ciccariello-Maher tweeted on Christmas Eve, “All I Want for Christmas is White Genocide,” prompting a response by Drexel calling his comment “utterly reprehensible” and “deeply disturbing.”
He made headlines again in March when he tweeted that he wanted to “vomit” when an airline passenger gave up his first-class seat for a uniformed soldier. Most recently, he was criticized for a series of tweets blaming “Trumpism” and white men, less than 24 hours after a gunman killed 58 people and injured 546 others during a country music festival in Las Vegas.
Mr. Ciccariello-Maher never apologized for the controversial tweets, and he has repeatedly blamed conservative media outlets for launching a smear campaign against him.
“We are at war, and academia is a crucial front in that war,” he wrote Thursday. “This is why the Right is targeting campuses with thinly veiled provocations disguised as free speech.”
“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 concluded.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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