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After school on March 9, Dr. Samuel Jokkel stepped into his office at Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBAU) as he taught English at countless private Christian schools in Florida. over the course of two decades. This time, the office phone The computer monitor, speakers, and keyboard disappeared. “I think someone broke into my office and stole something,” he told The Daily Beast in an email.
In fact, Joeckel was laid off—his office equipment was removed prematurely before his employer got the word out.
His dismissal was the culmination of an incident that began in late February, as The Daily Beast reported at the time. The renewal of the CS Lewis scholar’s contract was postponed pending the three-day racial justice unit review of the Composition II class. is considering allegations from the student’s parents that he is
On March 15, Joeckel officially learned that his contract would not be renewed. In fact, he would be terminated prematurely. Moreover He was reportedly banned from returning to university. The British professor sees his dismissal as a result of “Decisions to teach and speak about racial justice.”
Since speaking with The Daily Beast in late February, Joeckel said he had met with the PBAU administrator again, who at the time had been experiencing a number of problems with his teaching. which he sees as a “smoke curtain”)” for the true motive behind his dismissal—teaching. “A unit on racial justice that one parent sees as indoctrination.”
Joeckel told The Daily Beast that the “smoke curtain” was an allegation of “False teaching” – where he takes “Too much in class to talk about racial justice in songwriting class”, however, as he notes. (And, as his course copy provided to The Daily Beast confirms), equal class time is allocated for racial justice, as are other topics where his Composition II students can choose to write research essays. which is comedy and humor, gothic and horror. and gender equality He had previously taught a racial justice unit for 12 years with no problems.
Joeckel also noted the alleged violations of what he called the According to this PBAU guidelines, schools “expect students, faculty and staff not to engage in or promote sexual views or gender representations that are contrary to biblical standards.” Joeckel objected to that, while As “a member of an LGBTQ-supporting church (and proud of that),” he “certainly knows the policy of the university. So I don’t violate it.”
Finally, Joeckel recalled that the head of HR—“straight forward”—consider Joeckel’s use of the word “shit” in the classroom problematic. impressive where parents can keep track of the ideas they receive. But they are adults who can understand the language.) Joeckel said while teaching. He might use the word “On rare occasions” for “rhetorical impact” overuse. “Non-inventive linguistically,” he told The Daily Beast, “I’m an English professor.”
While the PBAU did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story, The Daily Beast contacted a spokesman for the Council on Christian Colleges and Universities, of which the PBAU is a member. which emphasizes that the council “Didn’t decide according to the course? method of teaching at our campus,” but that “(k) knows that all truth is God’s truth. We are confident that our students will graduate with a better understanding of themselves and the world around them after facing and challenging them at large. spectrum of academic theory.”
But what did the PBAU do in sacking Joeckel but denying students the opportunity to gain such insight? Furthermore, it appears to be doing so leaving each student’s parents to decide. which is one of the others who had attended Joeckel’s classes and spoke lavishly about his teaching. To bogus their promises of the right to teach and learn independently.
In particular, the PBAU does not offer tenure. Faculty signing a one-year contract with experienced professors may receive two-year and three-year contracts. This fact makes Joeckel’s dismissal a deplorable proof of a point I’ve reiterated in these pages earlier: A large part of professors’ academic freedom depends on their career stability. and is best protected by the act and tenure of the faculty.
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The story highlights the madness that Florida Gov. Ron Desantis’ war on public university “waking” has affected the state’s entire higher education system. Joeckel was fired, but the PBAU was working on the same handbook that animated the government’s anti-awakening campaign. (which the camp defines as “Awareness” as a “belief that there are systemic injustices in American society and that they need to be dealt with.”)
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
Scott Audette/Reuters
As Joeckel told The Daily Beast, “this moment is no coincidence” given the “anti-woke” campaign underway from the DeSantis administration and other far-right politicians and activists in the PBAU. “Clearly influenced by this toxic political ideology,” making these points easier to connect. Universities which have recently faced criticism This, seen as a turning point for more conservative groups, had DeSantis host the speech on the same day Joeckel was informed that his contract renewal had been suspended.
considering It’s no mystery why such a messy case of over-dribbling has suspiciously drifted under the radar of right-wing commentators. That usually leapfrogs the fight for academic freedom, such as the dismissal of assistants at Hamline University—but As long as it gives an opportunity to scold undergraduates for being “cowardly” and “woke.”
It seems that Joeckel’s only “guilt” is teaching about racial and historical injustice in America. The PowerPoint slides he shared with The Daily Beast show how his brief Racial Justice Unit covers how the revered Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. current (and historically whitewashed by history) as well as the March on Washington. Much defamed during their time, other slides highlight contemporary racial inequality in education. medical care and income
Such a lesson was an insult to the reactionaries. which in our present time They are deeply anxious to wash away the injustices of the past and to ignore the injustices of the present.
Joeckel refuses to be a victim of these censorship efforts. He intends to “fight back” by using legal options to “show the PBA and other institutions what it means.” saw that they could not escape from this.”
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