KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WDAF) — A University of Kansas (KU) professor has “left” the university after a video went viral on X earlier this week showing the professor making what some say were unnerving remarks about men who won’t vote for women based on their intelligence.
KU Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor Barbara A. Bichelmeyer said the professor has left the university. On Wednesday, he was placed on administrative leave.
In the video, you can hear him say, “What frustrates me, there are going to be some males in our society that will refuse to vote for a potential female president because they don’t think females are smart enough to be president.”
He continued, “We could line all those guys up and shoot them. They clearly don’t understand the way the world works.”
The professor then attempted to retract his statement, saying, “Did I say that? Scratch that from the recordings. I don’t want the deans hearing that I said that.”
KU released a statement Friday saying the instructor has “left the university.”
Here is part of the statement from Bichelmeyer:
“I am writing today to inform you that the instructor has left the university. We are working to identify a new instructor to assume responsibility for his classes, and we are working with the students impacted by this change.
The instructor has apologized to me and other university leaders. He has explained to us that his intent was to emphasize his advocacy for women’s rights and equality, and he recognizes he did a very poor job of doing so.
The free expression of ideas is essential to the functioning of our university, and we fully support the academic freedom of our teachers as they engage in classroom instruction. Academic freedom, however, is not a license for suggestions of violence like we saw in the video. While we embrace our university’s role as a place for all kinds of dialogue, violent rhetoric is never acceptable.“
Bichelmeyer also announced that the school is “working to identify a new instructor to assume the responsibility for his classes, and we are working with the students impacted by this change.”
