A professor at the University of California in Los Angeles said he was suspended from his work after rejecting a student’s request to effectively cancel a final exam for black students amid protests over the death of George Floyd.
“I have been put on forced leave for three weeks, and it looks like it might end more than that,” Gordon Klein, who teaches accounting at school, told The Post.
Klein – who students slapped as “racist” and “refused” – was also placed under police protection at his home in Malibu after receiving threats from angry critics over email exchanges, The Free Beacon reports.
The controversy began when a student, identified as a white ally of black students, wrote an email to him last week asking for a final “no harm”, which would not have a negative impact on grades.
“We have been placed in a position where we have to choose between actively supporting our black classmates or focusing on completing our spring quarter,” the student wrote, referring to the civil unrest over Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police, according to the screenshot. obtained by educational news sites Inside Ed’s Height.
“We believe that staying neutral when injustice brings power to the oppressor and therefore staying silent is not an option,” the email said. “[It’s] not a joint effort to get the final canceled for non-black students, but rather ask that you use mercy and leniency with black students in our department, “notes the email.
Klein immediately replied to reject the student’s request.
“Thank you for your suggestion in your email below that I gave special treatment to black students, given the tragedy in Minnesota. Do you know the names of black classmates? How can I identify them because we only have online classes?” He wrote, according to the quote posted online.
“Are there any students who might be of mixed descent, such as half Asian-half Asian? What do you suggest I do for them? Full or only half concession? Also, do you know if there are students from Minneapolis? I assume that they might be very destroyed too. I think that a white student from there might be even more devastated by this, especially because some people might think that they are racist even if they are not, “said the email.
“Remember that MLK is famous for saying that people shouldn’t be evaluated based on their skin color … Do you think that your request will collide with MLK warnings?”
But Klein’s response made the students angry, which launched a change.org petition to demand that he be fired. The petition collected more than 20,000 signatures on Wednesday afternoon.
“[Klein] making fun of students for asking that he give special treatment to black students, given the tragedy in Minnesota, ‘”the petition stated.
“We ask for your support for Professor Professor Klein to be terminated because of his extremely insensitive, dismissive, and racist response to his students’ requests for empathy and compassion during times of civil unrest.”
On Tuesday, the UCLA Anderson School of Management said “Klein’s classes had been transferred to other faculties” because of alleged professor racist behavior being investigated, according to NBC.
Klein said he followed the orders of his direct supervisor when he rejected the soft exam model, and that he only applied it in exceptional circumstances, according to the station.
Klein declined to comment outside for confirming his suspension on Tuesday, referring to The Post to his lawyer.
