A University of Massachusetts Boston professor shut out a student who disagreed with her comments comparing President Trump to Nazis.
“All of us there the writers, discussers, the scholars, the survivors, we thought this would never happen again. We thought we never were going to see fascism of the Nazi Germany sort ever again,” psychology professor Ester Shapiro said, according to Campus Reform. “We now have children on the border in cages, we have the criminalization of immigrants, we have a criminal who’s a president and who’s going down in flames, don’t think he’s not.”
“We have the Republican militias with armbands preparing to go to the polling booths. They are preparing for election suppression, for voter suppression,” Shapiro, who was a guest speaker for the class, continued. “And look I didn’t use to say Republican, Democrat but now that we have Nazis, we’ve got to do it.”
One student, Mary O’Sullivan, recorded the Zoom class and tried to voice that she doesn’t believe Trump is a Nazi. Shapiro, however, cut her off.
“Okay, alright great Mary, this is not the debate I’d like to have. You asked me a question … And let’s have this offline, okay? I’m, I’ve got to be done with Mary,” Shapiro said.
Later, Shapiro appeared to walk back her suggestion that Trump is a Nazi.
“Alright, so maybe he’s not a Nazi, maybe he’s just a fraud and a criminal,” Shapiro said, as O’Sullivan attempted to interject with a question.
“Well, can I just say something please? It’s about the children at the border, are you aware of how many children are trafficked into this country,” O’Sullivan asked.
“Oh Mary, of course I am,” Shapiro said.
“And so, Mary you would like us to talk about trafficked children? Alright, let’s do it some other time,” Shapiro said. “Trafficking is an abomination, Mary. As is the president who is willing to talk in public about having sex with his daughter. Just saying.”
Multiple students can be heard agreeing with Shapiro and disparaging O’Sullivan during the exchange.
“Yesss!!” one student wrote when Shapiro discussed Republicans trying to suppress voters.
“What classes are you teaching next semester,” another student asked.
Toward the end of the conversation, Shapiro offered apologies for her comments.
“I apologize for the intensity being dialed up,” Shapiro said.
In an interview with Campus Reform, O’Sullivan said she received backlash from her fellow students for supporting Trump.
“Both professors allowed students to pretty much label me as a ‘racist Republican,'” O’Sullivan said. “She thought my comment was disgraceful and she did not want to accept a student disagreeing with her absurd claim.”
A representative for the University said the video is being reviewed.
“The University of Massachusetts Boston takes pride in its faculty of extraordinarily qualified scholar-teachers and their deep commitment to presenting students with conceptual material designed to broaden their knowledge base, inspire analytical thinking, and challenge uncritical assumptions,” the representative said. “The University is also fully committed to assuring free expression of opinion to all in its various communities (students, staff, faculty), encouraging civil discourse on controversial topics among all parties, and creating classroom climates that respect diversity of outlook. In the present case, the University is carefully reviewing the facts and will follow up as it deems appropriate, with due attention to the confidentiality of any individuals and disciplinary procedures.”
