Suffolk County college says professor who bashed Trump in class reassigned
An exterior view of Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood on May 14, 2015.
A Suffolk County Community College humanities professor has been reassigned, the college said, after allegedly bashing President Donald Trump in a recording that has gone viral on social media.
The selfie-video shows a student’s face and the audio is allegedly of a professor during a live virtual class. The student’s father, Anthony Salvatore, posted the video Wednesday night on his Facebook, where it garnered more than 1,000 comments and nearly 3,000 shares.
“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. “He’s really ruining our country.”
The professor in the recording is Janet Gulla, an adjunct assistant professor of women's studies, the college said in an email.
Gulla, who could not be reached for comment Friday, goes on to say that many of her students will be voting for the first time this November.
“I’m sorry this is such a contentious situation that you’re being thrusted into,” she says. “If any of you still think Trump is a good person, I beg you to not only go into your heart center and think about this a little more, [but] pull up all the stuff that he’s been doing to our country.”
Salvatore took issue with the professor urging students not to vote for Trump.
“This is … not what we are paying to send our kids to school for,” he said in the Facebook post. “You have no business telling these kids who to vote for and we will be calling the school tomorrow!!! You should be terminated on the spot!!!”
The college reopened for the fall semester on Sept. 2 with remote learning and limited face-to-face courses.
“Pending an investigation of the content and context of that video, we have reassigned the faculty member involved in the video,” read a statement from the college. “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.”
The 45-second snippet was taken from a 75-minute online class, the college said.
