Barbara Bush-bashing feminist at Fresno State gets Reprieve

The faculty feminist at Fresno State who took the occasion of the death of the beloved former first lady to trash her in tweets—Randa Jarrar–will, as she predicted, keep her job.

“Immediately following Professor Jarrar’s tweets last Tuesday, we carefully reviewed the facts and consulted with CSU counsel to determine whether we could take disciplinary action,” Fresno State University President Joseph I Castro stated in a statement which appeared in the Fresno State News on April 24, 2018.* “After completing this process, we have concluded that Professor Jarrar did not violate any CSU or university policies and that she was acting in a private capacity and speaking about a public matter on her personal Twitter account.”

“Her comments, although disgraceful, are protected free speech under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.” We should note that friends of ours who hardly share Jarrar’s views—namely David French of the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and author and activist Ben Shapiro—have taken similar positions. “Whatever its content, though, it was free speech,” French wrote on the National Review blog. “The constitutional analysis here is pretty darn simple.”

Nevertheless, it is interesting that Jarrar does not hold anywhere near the respect for the opinion of others that others, even those who find her reprehensible, have for hers. Her Rate My Professor ratings are pretty overwhelmingly favorable but one of them contains an intriguing insight into her pedagogical style that does not bespeak academic freedom.

“Amazing class!” one of her students posted. “1 large story, 3 medium stories, & 1 small para.”
“She has a list of what she will and will not accept for stories, which can be scary, but there are reasons for it.”

* Fresno State is part of the California State University (CSU) system.

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