From Inside Higher Ed: English professor Vinita Prabhakar is suing South Florida State College after she was abruptly fired for teaching a story the college president deemed “political,” according to a complaint filed Wednesday in Florida district court. Prabhakar assigned her freshman English students “Bettering Myself,” an award-winning story by Ottessa Moshfegh that centers on a Catholic school math teacher who drinks to excess and talks about sex with her students. One of her students told Prabhakar the story made them “a bit uncomfortable” ...
Following several days of back-and-forth with other administrators about the assignment, Prabhakar met with South Florida State President Fred Hawkins on Feb. 11. During the meeting, Hawkins said “he would not want his own college-aged daughter reading” the story, and that he didn’t “ever want to see this story again,” the complaint states. He also told Prabhakar he’d been in contact “with Tallahassee” and the Board of Trustees about the matter... A day later, college officials removed Prabhakar from the classroom and told her that her contract would not be renewed... Prabhakar joins a growing list of professors who have sued their institutions after being fired, alleging First Amendment violations...
Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/07/31/professor-fired-teaching-political-story-sues-college.
Lawsuit at https://www.fire.org/research-learn/complaint-prabhakar-v-hawkins-et-al.
No comments:
Post a Comment