Cagle World

Fresno State’s refusal to fire professor Randa Jarrar is proof that our first amendment protections are important and necessary for a free society.

Jarrar’s disgusting characterizations of the late First Lady Barbara Bush just minutes following the announcement of her passing are indeed protected, as is the right of taxpayer-funded Fresno State to define their university as a bastion of angry, foul-mouthed instructors bent on filling young minds with filth and profanity.

It’s also your right to withhold contributions and refuse to enroll at Fresno State.

While Conservatives calling for the dismissal of Fresno State professor Randa Jarrar are wrong, Fresno President Castro was also disingenuous in stating that Fresno State has no authority to discipline Farrar due to “free speech.”

“Her comments, although disgraceful, are protected free speech under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Additionally, although Professor Jarrar used tenure to defend her behavior, this private action is an issue of free speech and not related to her job or tenure,” Castro wrote, adding that the university doesn’t have any “justification” to take any disciplinary action.

“Free speech” has nothing to do with the university’s ability to discipline Farrar.

As stated on page 10 of the Fresno State Staff Handbook, “The university has the authority to impose discipline on employees which may include suspension, demotion or dismissal. The university encourages progressive corrective action be taken prior to the imposition of discipline. In accordance with Section 89535 of the Education Code, a permanent, probationary or temporary employee may be disciplined for any of the following reasons:”

The list of reasons includes, but is not limited to:

“Immoral conduct.”

“Unprofessional conduct.”

“Dishonesty.”

“Incompetence.”

So, it is up to the ironically-named President Castro to decide with his board and legal counsel whether or not Farrar’s public profanity-laced rage and personal attacks, which Castro himself described as “… inappropriate and an embarrassment to the university,” rises to the level of “unprofessional conduct.”

He has obviously decided it doesn’t, and any admonition of the professor’s statements means absolutely nothing when Fresno State leadership’s actions are nonexistent.

What about Castro’s tactical defense of claiming Farrar’s disgusting and “embarrassing” slobberings are her own, not representing the university?

Nonsense.

Farrar herself incorporated the name of her employer, “Fresno State” in her tweets, thus positioning herself as a Fresno State employee and representative.

At that point, she was certainly no longer speaking as a private citizen, now hiding behind the cloak of university President Joseph Castro, whom she also mentioned by name as a protector from any potential discipline.

So, Farrar did engage in disgusting and profanely unprofessional behaviors in public, was an embarrassment to Fresno State as Castro stated, and identified herself as a Fresno State employee who would be protected from any discipline by President Joseph Castro.

Thus Castro’s claim that she was spewing filth as a private citizen, not a Fresno State employee is false.

Castro’s claim that he cannot discipline her is false.

Should Farrar be fired?

That’s not up to the government… or you, unless you are a member of the Fresno State Board of Governors.

Bottom line: Castro and his team crafted a false narrative to justify keeping Farrar on staff and it’s not up to you, me or the government to intervene.

Randa Jarrar is the face of Fresno State’s identity.

That’s their choice.

After all, if you read Jarrar’s tweetstorm, in which she hides behind claims of victimhood following her own unprovoked attacks, you’ll notice a lack of grammatical knowledge in addition to her profanity.

Certainly that sinks to the level of “incompetence” for an English teacher.

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Copyright 2018 Rick Jensen, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Rick Jensen is an annoying, award-winning Delaware talk show host and equally annoying national columnist. Email [email protected].

By Rick Jensen

Just because a tenured professor at Fresno State University went on a hate-filled rant on Barbara Bush minutes after she passed away doesn’t mean she should be fired.

Except for the most callow liberals in America, everyone with a conscience rejects anyone who responds to the death of a woman truly respected and beloved on all political sides by tweeting, “Barbara Bush was a generous and smart and amazing racist who, along with her husband, raised a war criminal.F— outta here with your nice words.”

Then:

“PSA: either you are against these pieces of s— and their genocidal ways or you’re part of the problem. That’s actually how simple this is. I’m happy the witch is dead. Can’t wait for the rest of her family to fall to their demise the way 1.5 million Iraqis have.”

This was the message from Randa Jarrar, a Chicago-born author and alleged English professor at Fresno State.

She continued to taunt outraged readers, declaring,, “I work as a tenured professor. I make 100K a year doing that. I will never be fired. I will always have people wanting to hear what I have to say.”

Fresno State is a publicly funded university and, as such, many conservatives are calling for her to be fired and demanding that President Trump withhold all federal funding from the school.

Why?

Because she is so sadly filled with hate that she spews verbal poison onto Twitter?

Big deal.

It is our Constitution, and Barbara Bush’s husband defense of the Constitution as president, that protects her and Fresno State from federal retribution. With her angry comments, Jarrar hurts only herself and, potentially, Fresno State.

Should students or their tuition-paying parents become so disgusted with her that they choose not to enroll in her class, she would be deemed a liability to the school.

Given the nature of today’s college liberalism, especially West Coast liberalism, that would be highly unlikely.

There is, thankfully, no U.S. law declaring evil thought sans actus reus a primary offense.

Yet.

As for Jarrar, tenure does not really protect her or any other employee for behavior that may reflect badly upon the university.

For example, the Fresno State Handbook states on page 10, “The university has the authority to impose discipline on employees which may include suspension, demotion or dismissal. The university encourages progressive corrective action be taken prior to the imposition of discipline. In accordance with Section 89535 of the Education Code, a permanent, probationary or temporary employee may be disciplined for any of the following reasons … ”

Among those reasons:”Unprofessional conduct.”

If the university should decide publicly that spitting on the grave of Barbara Bush is “unprofessional,” then Jarrar has a problem.

Should the university decide publicly that a professor spitting on the grave of Barbara Bush and spewing profanity is “unprofessional,” then Jarrar has two problems.

Neither of these would have anything to do with constitutional “free speech.” That concept is reserved for protection from the government, not one’s employer.

So far, it seems Fresno State President Joseph Castro isn’t too upset by Jarrar.

“We share the deep concerns expressed by others over the personal comments made today by Professor Randa Jarrar, a professor in the English Department at Fresno State,” Castro wrote last week. “Her statements were made as a private citizen, not as a representative of Fresno State.”

Interesting.

She obviously represents Fresno State, while Castro’s language carefully leaves open the possibility of dismissal. This is lovely weasel-wording that gives Castro rationale to either fire her or not.

There’s really no reason to fire her unless Castro believes Fresno’s reputation has been damaged, just as Melissa Click had soiled the journalism credentials of the University of Missouri.

Perhaps Castro will also recognize Jarrar’s illiterate rantings are demonstrably inferior to the published literacy of beloved First Lady Barbara Bush.

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Copyright 2018 Rick Jensen, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Rick Jensen is an annoying, award-winning Delaware talk show host and equally annoying national columnist. Email [email protected].