Professor who blamed 'Trumpism' for Las Vegas massacre resigns
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Drexel professor George Ciccariello-Maher, who has a history of controversial tweets about whiteness.
A far-left Drexel University professor -- known for making inflammatory remarks on social media -- is resigning from his teaching job, blaming a right-wing “internet mob” for alleged “harassment.”
George Ciccariello-Maher, an associate professor of politics and global studies at the Philadelphia school, will be leaving next year, he said in a statement Thursday.
He blamed “right-wing, white supremacist media outlets and internet mobs” that allegedly harassed him for nearly a year.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Staying at Drexel in the eye of this storm has become detrimental to my own writing, speaking and organizing,” he wrote.
The professor had drawn attention for a series of inflammatory remarks. Most recently, he was placed on administrative leave after he blamed the Oct. 1 Las Vegas massacre of 58 people on the “narrative of white victimization” and “Trumpism.”
In another instance, Ciccariello-Maher in March said he wanted to “vomit or yell” after seeing an airline passenger giving up a first-class seat to a U.S. military service member. On Christmas Eve last year, he said that all he wanted for the holidays was a “white genocide.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The constant controversy created a backlash for the university, prompting an inquiry into the professor's behavior after donors started reconsidering their partnership with the institution.
The university’s provost reportedly wrote to Ciccariello-Maher that "at least two potential significant donors to the university have withheld previously promised donations” while a number of prospective students reversed their decisions to attend Drexel.
In the resignation announcement, Ciccariello-Maher said that “we are at war” and accused conservatives of “targeting campuses with thinly veiled provocations disguised as free speech.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He added: “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.”
Drexel previously defended the professor’s right to free speech, but stressed that his views did not reflect those of the institution.