A Georgetown Law professor was fired after a video surfaced of her lamenting how black students perform poorly in her class.
The school’s dean issued a statement on Thursday about the firing of Sandra Sellers, who is white, who made the comment during a Zoom conversation with her colleague, David Batson.
COLLEGE EDUCATORS FORM FREE SPEECH ALLIANCE TO COUNTER CANCEL CULTURE AND VIEWPOINT SUPPRESSION
“As I wrote to you last night, I am appalled that two members of our faculty engaged in a conversation that included reprehensible statements concerning the evaluation of Black students,” Bill Treanor, dean of Georgetown University Law Center, wrote. “I have further reviewed the incident and have now spoken to Professor Sellers and Professor Batson, giving each the opportunity to provide any additional context. I informed Professor Sellers that I was terminating her relationship with Georgetown Law effective immediately. During our conversation, she told me that she had intended to resign. As a result of my decision, Professor Sellers is no longer affiliated with Georgetown Law.”
Batson has been placed on administrative leave, pending an investigation by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Affirmative Action, Treanor said.
“This is by no means the end of our work to address the many structural issues of racism reflected in this painful incident, including explicit and implicit bias, bystander responsibility, and the need for more comprehensive anti-bias training,” Treanor said. “This is a matter of great concern to me.”
In a video of the conversation, which was posted to Twitter on Wednesday and has more than 600,000 views, Sellers says her black students typically have the lowest performance in her classes. Batson appears to nod in agreement.
“I end up having this angst every semester that a lot of my lower ones are blacks,” Sellers says in the video. “Happens almost every semester. And it’s like, oh come on. It’s some really good ones, but there are usually some that are just plain at the bottom. It drives me crazy.”
.@GeorgetownLaw negotiations Professors Sandra Sellers and David Batson being openly racist on a recorded Zoom call.
Beyond unacceptable. pic.twitter.com/q5MoWjBok8
— Hassan Ahmad (@hahmad1996) March 10, 2021
Black students make up roughly 6% to 7% of the student population at Georgetown University, which is located in Washington, D.C. Georgetown Law boasts about its diversity on its website. “The size of Georgetown Law separates us from other top law schools. With more than 400 students of color and 27 full-time faculty of color, you won’t feel alone,” the site says.
Maxine Walters, president of the Black Law Student Association, said her group is pleased with the decision to fire Sellers but is also calling for a public apology from Batson, changes to the school’s grading system, an audit of Sellers’s past grading and student evaluations, and a commitment to hiring more black professors.
“This is definitely not an isolated incident. It’s just that this professor was recorded,” Walters told the Washington Examiner.
Treanor first issued a message to the Georgetown Law community Wednesday evening, stating that the school learned of the conversation earlier in the week. He said the school is taking steps to make sure all students are fairly treated in the grading system.
“I recognize how hurtful this incident is to members of this class, to the members of the Black community, and to members of our community as a whole. I am committed to taking steps to support students through this and to addressing racism and bias wherever they appear. There is no place for bias in our grading process or anywhere in our community,” he said.
Adjua Pryor, the attorney general of Georgetown’s BLSA, said the group is mobilizing with other student organizations and alumni to reach their goals, adding that the group received support from other chapters of black law student associations across the country.
Pryor, who said the law school campus is predominantly white, said the group encouraged students to use the hashtag #BLACKATGULC to share stories of discrimination faced on campus.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Since the video went viral, Walters said it has had a negative effect on black students at Georgetown.
“Several students said they were unable to focus and get a lot done yesterday because they were dealing with the emotions of this going viral,” Walters said. “It’s definitely taken a toll.”
The Washington Examiner attempted to reach Sellers, but her page had been removed from the university‘s website.