On April 17, former First Lady Barbara Bush died. She was 92 years old and lived a remarkable life. While most offered thoughts and prayers, one Fresno State professor jumped for joy. Randa Jarrar ignited a social media firestorm when she tweeted, “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.” She later protected her account, and even now remains unapologetic about her decision to jump on Mrs. Bush’s grave. It’s the ugly face of the progressive left.
Fresno State President Joseph Castro issued a statement, noting that Jarrar’s remarks were made as a private citizen and do not represent Fresno State. He also said they’re not in keeping with the institution’s values of empathy and respect. Jarrar wasn’t fired for this outburst.
Now, NTK Network has obtained emails showing that the chancellor of the California university system, Timothy White, thought Jarrar’s behavior was “unhinged and disgusting.”
“Joe brought this disgusting and unhinged professor’s behavior to my attention last evening,” the email read. “The accelerant of social media has made this viral, and the campus is getting pounded on social media.”
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The email chain originated from a message sent by Jason Smith, who identified himself as a 2008 alumnus of Fresno State. Smith took screenshots of Jarrar’s comments and requested she be fired.
So, while California is a bastion of left wing politics, there are at least some people with level-heads in higher education. It’s fine to be against Bush and his policies, but this was a rather ugly display that all too encapsulated what many conservative feel about higher education and the people who are apart of it. And yes, Mr. White is right; Jarrar’s behavior was unhinged. I don’t know his politics, but as an institution, California is liberal. Higher education is liberal, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.
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