Paul Roof’s facial hair is worth showing off. It’s where a picture of it wound up that got him into trouble, he says.
Roof, an associate professor of sociology at Charleston Southern University, a Baptist school in South Carolina, said he was let go last week after a likeness of him sporting a wildly creative beard appeared on a local beer can. Roof’s beard has ranked high in multiple facial hair competitions — but he told local TV station WCBD-TV he had no idea it’d be used in such away until the cans were already in production.
“My image, my likeness, which I do not own, that I’ve never received compensation for, and it was a surprise for me that it was going to be on a beer can by Holy City Brewing,” Roof said.
Roof said he received an email early last week saying he needed to meet with his dean. He did, and all was well, he said. The same was not the case with university higher-ups.
“My answers were sufficient for (the dean) … but on Friday, I was called into the VP’s office, and that’s where I was terminated.”
Roof said he was told that his image on the beer cans is “not representative of a Christian environment.”
He doesn’t quite understand.
“For me a Christian environment entails two things: that is looking out for other people and forgiveness of others who’ve transgressed against you,” Roof said.
The TV station said it reached out to the school for comment, and the school replied saying it doesn’t discuss personnel issues.
Holy City Brewing posted this message to its Facebook page Friday:
HCB is shocked and disappointed at the news that our good friend Paul Roof was fired from CSU for his image on our beer can. We brewed Chucktown Follicle Brown for the Holy City Beard and Mustache Society to help raise money for Lowcountry Women with Wings at their annual Southeastern Beard and Mustache Championships. Paul is a good man and is a huge part of the Charleston community that has helped raise tons of money for Charleston charities. We are honored that he let us put his image on our can!
WCBD-TV: News, Weather, and Sports for Charleston, SC
(h/t The Blaze)
