The students who are complaining about his are mostly exposing their unfitness as potential officers of the court. And USD Law Dean Robert Schapiro has exposed his unfitness as Dean. Deans are supposed to stand up for their faculty, not throw them under the bus at the least provocation.
Here’s more from Eugene Volokh. Frankly, this looks like a libel case, a political-discrimination case under California law, and a federal civil rights conspiracy case all rolled into one.
UPDATE: USD faculty take Dean to task.
The faculty member in question made a political comment in forceful language. He has the right and perhaps the obligation as a citizen and an academic to comment on matters of public concern such as the Chinese government’s handling of COVID, and to do so in evocative and forceful language. No fair, much less lawyerly way of reading what he wrote would conclude anything other than that “Chinese cock swaddle” was referring to propaganda of the Chinese government and surely not denigrating people of Chinese origin or descent. The context makes this perfectly clear. . . .
Blog posts by academics fall within the bounds of academic freedom as defined by the AAUP. Student concerns about discrimination should always be considered soberly. Yet, an academic institution committed to free inquiry cannot allow misplaced accusations of bigotry to become an all-purpose tool for silencing critical comment. To allow such accusations to undermine academic freedom ultimately ensures an environment of fear and suspicion for all members of the academic community, undermining rather than ensuring a welcoming and respectful discourse. Describing the disputed comments in this case as “offensive language in reference to people from China” of a piece with “hate crimes directed against the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) community [and] racist commentary” inevitably creates the impression that judgment has been rendered in advance and the outcome of the promised review has been predetermined.
Students who make such complaints need remedial training on living in a free society. As do deans who take them seriously.
h/t Glenn