Professor accused of posting anti-Semitic statements fired

OBERLIN, Ohio – An Ohio college has fired a professor accused of posting anti-Semitic statements on Facebook.

Oberlin College’s trustees announced Tuesday they voted to dismiss Joy Karega. The assistant professor of rhetoric and composition has been accused of posting that Israel was behind the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Board of Trustees says it fired Karega for failing to meet the college’s academic standards and to demonstrate intellectual honesty. The board says Karega refused to “acknowledge and remedy her misconduct” and attacked colleagues questioning her description of the connection between her scholarship and her statements.

Karega tells Inside Higher Ed her statements were taken out of context and the college attacked her professional fitness and her rights. She says on her Facebook page there will be a “challenge and defence” of her rights.