Todd Starnes of Fox News Radio has learned that growing national outrage over a class exercise in which FAU professor Dr. Deandre Poole ordered students to stomp on the name of Jesus caused the school to issue a statement confirming that "no student has been expelled, suspended or disciplined by the university" as a result of the incident.
However, behind the scenes, they were doing the exact opposite.
" . . . (A)ccording to a letter written [to Rotela] by Associate Dean Rozalia Williams, Rotela is facing a litany of charges – including an alleged violation of the student code of conduct, acts of verbal, written or physical abuse, threats, intimidation, harassment, coercion or other conduct which threaten the health, safety or welfare of any person'," Starnes reports.
Williams went on to tell Rotela that in the interim, "you may not attend class or contact any of the students involved in this matter – verbally or electronically – or by any other means. Please be advised that a Student Affairs hold may be placed on your records until final disposition of the complaint.”
When word first got out about the incident, the school defended the professor by saying the lesson was part of the course textbook, but insisted that Rotela was not punished for speaking up.
We now know that was not the case.
“We believe the university punished him in retaliation for him exposing the class assignment to the public,” said Hiram Sasser, director of litigation at the Liberty Institute, to Fox News.
“Sadly, it is a testimony to the indoctrination that some of the public schools and universities are engaging in – to demonize anything that was valuable in the culture.”
The Liberty Institute is demanding that Rotela be reinstated with full credit for the course – along with an apology.
“He’s being punished because he told the professor to never do the assignment again because it’s offensive and that he was going to complain to the university,” Sasser said.
The case has generated national outrage and a number of high-profile attorneys have volunteered their services.
“The textbook reveals the agenda,” Sasser said. “So-called intellectual enlightenment is stomping on everything that has held western civilization together for the past 2,000 years.”
Another expert, Paul Kengor, executive director of the Center for Vision and Values at Grove City College, told Fox he was not surprised by the classroom lesson.
“These are the new secular disciples of ‘diversity’ and ‘tolerance’ – empty buzzwords that make liberals and progressives feel good while they often refuse to tolerate and sometimes even assault traditional Christian and conservative beliefs,” Kengor said.
He also noted that the school did not ask the students to do this exercise with the name of any other religion, such as Mohammed.
In the meantime, Rotela claims that he's been overwhelmed by the amount of support he's received from Christians throughout the country.
"Looking back – the whole incident was one of the best and worst moments of my life,” he said.
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