KU instructor leaves after video of political comment surfaces
TOPEKA (KSNT) - The University of Kansas instructor who caught flak for a politically charged statement in class has left the university.
The university responded to a 27 News request for comment on Friday. The university said the lecturer apologized to university leaders for his comment.
The post, which garnered over 2 million views in less than seven hours, shows the professor speaking in a university lecture hall. 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. We could line all those guys up and shoot them.”
According to a KU spokeswoman, Phillip Lowcock was a lecturer in the Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Science Department. The KU spokeswoman told 27 News it has a process for situations like this.
KU said that Lowcock's intent was to emphasize his advocacy for women's rights and equality and that he acknowledged that 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," Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor Barbara A. Bichelmeyer said in a press release. "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."
The university is now working to find a new instructor to take over his classes and is working with the students who will be impacted by the change.
For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.