New York Professor Reassigned After Telling Students Not to Vote for Trump During Lecture

New York Professor Reassigned After Telling Students Not to Vote for Trump During Lecture
President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during a press conference in the James S. Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington on Aug. 31, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
Bill Pan
9/13/2020
Updated:
9/13/2020

A professor at Suffolk County Community College, New York, has been reassigned after she allegedly urged her students to vote against President Donald Trump in a recording that caused outrage on social media.

The 45-second selfie-video was posted on Facebook by Anthony Salvatore, who identifies himself as the father of a student at Suffolk County Community College. By the time of this publication, the video has generated some 1,400 comments and 3,400 shares.

“...for four years, cause that’s what people say, ‘Give him a chance, give him a chance.’ Well he’s had four freaking years of a chance and he’s done a crap job,” the professor can be heard saying in the video, which was allegedly taken by Salvatore’s daughter during an online humanities class. “He’s really ruining our country.”

She moves on to say Trump is taking away people’s rights and turning the country into a “dictatorship.”

“Many of you this may be the first time that you’re voting. I’m sorry it’s such a contentious situation that you’re being thrusted into,” she continues. “If any of you do still think Trump is a good person, I beg you to not only go into your heart’s center and think about this a little more, pull up all the stuff that he’s been doing to our country, taking away so many of our rights, he’s trying to turn this into more a dictatorship type of situation.”

“This is complete [explicit] and not what we are paying to send our kids to school for,” Salvatore wrote, adding that the professor has “no business telling these kids who to vote for.”

The professor’s remarks also came into attention of Rep. Lee Zeldin, whose congressional district includes the eastern Suffolk County.

“College instructor trying her best DURING CLASS to indoctrinate students to turn against POTUS & remove him from office,” the Republican congressman wrote on Twitter. “This is wrong on many levels & gives our teachers a very bad name. Our classrooms should be a place for free thinking not indoctrination!”

“Suffolk County Community College is aware of a video posted to Facebook allegedly containing 45 seconds of audio from a 1 hour and 15 minute online class,” reads a statement from a college spokesperson. “Pending an investigation of the content and context of that video, we have reassigned the faculty member involved in the video. Suffolk County Community College encourages any open and diverse discussion and exchange of ideas. The College does not, however, condone electioneering by faculty in the classroom.”