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Sociology professor John McTighe has effectively lost his job over remarks he made in the classroom, but it’s hard to tell whether his inappropriate comments are not, for sheer absurdity, trumped by the community’s reaction to them.
Brian Yates, a polemic journalist who has a history of extreme bias in reporting, published the column in his newspaper The Louisville Patriot quoting McTighe purely on hearsay and without comment from McTighe. This is easily as offensive as anything McTighe said, especially considering that Yates’ spin on the issue then metastasized through the blogosphere, and nasty emails soon poured in from miffed busybodies who have nothing to do with U of L.
The University’s knee-jerk reaction to the e-mails it received regarding the issue was a bit rash, to say the least. While McTighe admitted that what Yates published did resemble what he had said in class, it is doubtful he was seriously trying to incite violence. The student Yates quoted also said that McTighe told the class he was “being sarcastic.” Considering this was known in the first place, the administration could have given him the benefit of the doubt and allowed him to teach while conducting their investigation. Instead, Grawemeyer Hall was manipulated by sleazy punditry and a partisan e-mail barrage.
Were McTighe’s comments off base? Yes. Should he have been reprimanded? Definitely. Should he have been dismissed? No. Damaging somebody professionally over an offhanded comment that was not to be taken literally is pretty off base, too. What’s worse, it sets a dangerous prededent.
How would it be if students started complaining about remarks professors make and undergrad journalists start screaming for blood? Do we really want a faculty that’s scared to speak its mind, or even crack a joke? Mr. Yates, might get a chuckle out of it, but the administration should keep its head when pressured to lop off others’.
