IU won't fire professor for tweets provost called 'racist, sexist and homophobic'

Arika Herron and Michael Reschke | Indianapolis Star and The Herald-Times

Show Caption Hide Caption This is how you delete old and embarrassing Facebook posts Here’s how you can delete old and embarrassing Faacebok posts.

Update, Nov. 21: Professor Eric Rasmusen is defending himself in a lengthy rebuttal posted to his personal website. Read more here.

Original story: A longtime Indiana University professor who used his social media accounts to denigrate women, people of color and gay men will not lose his job, university officials said Wednesday.

Eric Rasmusen, a professor of business economics and public policy at the IU Kelley School of Business, came under fire this week after a popular Twitter account posted a screenshot of a tweet from Rasmusen in which he shared an article titled, "Are Women Destroying Academia? Probably."

In the tweet, dated Nov. 7, Rasmusen quotes a line of the article that says "geniuses are overwhelmingly male because they combine outlier IQ with moderately low Agreeableness and Moderately low Conscientiousness."

The account, @SheRatesDogs, has more than 400,000 followers. Since the post, IU Provost Lauren Robel said the university has been inundated with demands that Rasmusen be fired.

While condemning Rasmusen's "racist, sexist and homophobic views," Robel said the university would not fire him for expressing them.

"We cannot, nor would we, fire Professor Rasmusen for his posts as a private citizen, as vile and stupid as they are, because the First Amendment of the United States Constitution forbids us to do so," she wrote in a letter posted to the university website.

However, if Rasmusen acted upon some of his expressed views in the workplace — judging students or colleagues on the basis of their gender, sexual orientation or race to their detriment — he would be in violation of the university's nondiscrimination policy, according to Robel's letter. Allegations of such conduct would be investigated.

Chuck Carney, a university spokesperson, said Wednesday he is not aware of any such evidence so far.

GLAAD, a national LGBTQ advocacy organization, encouraged students and faculty to report any instances where they felt their academics or well-being were affected by Rasmusen.

"Professor Rasmusen has now created an environment in Bloomington where students representing marginalized communities, like LGBTQ Hoosiers, have to worry about who they are as they experience what otherwise is an inclusive campus environment," said Drew Anderson, GLAAD's director of campaigns and rapid response and an IU alumnus.

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Rasmusen did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but he did post several comments on twitter yesterday defending the tweet in question.

Replying to an IU student who tweeted criticism at him, Rasmusen said this:

"You think the quote I tweeted was embarassing and offensive, but I don't, and most people don't (outside of twitter, of course). Anyway, that's beside the point. You need to ask 'Is it true?' If not, why do I think it's not? Might I be biased?"

In another tweet to a critic, Rasmusen said the "fuss" was keeping him busy.

"I'm in a tweetstorm right now, so any reasonable comments gets lost in the garbage, but I noticed this," he wrote. "It's nice to see something rational."

Robel, who called Rasmusen's beliefs "loathsome," provided summaries of some of Rasmusen's offending tweets, which include beliefs such as:

Women do not belong in the workplace, particularly academia.

That gay men should not be permitted in academia either, because he believes they are promiscuous and unable to avoid abusing students.

That he believes black students are generally unqualified to attend elite institutions, and are generally inferior academically to white students.

While the university does not plan to fire Rasmusen, officials have said they will "ensure that students will not be harmed by the biases that could underlie the judgment of this professor."

"I ask that you not judge our School by a single faculty member," said Idie Kesner, dean of the Kelley School, in a letter posted online. She called Ramusen's beliefs "reprehensible."

The university will be conducting a review of Rasmusen's courses, looking for the influence of bias and will allow any students who wish to do so to transfer out of his courses. The university is also instituting double-blind grading, where assignments are submitted anonymously to him.

Rasmusen is currently teaching one course and had 20 students enrolled at the start of the semester, according to Carney. He did not have a count of students who had transferred out.

It's not the first time Rasmusen, a professor at IU since 1992, has stirred controversy on the campus.

In 2003, he published a blog post in which he contended that gay men weren't suited for certain jobs, such as teaching, preaching and elected posts, because they are "moral exemplars."

He also stated that gay men "are generally promiscuous" and are more likely than heterosexuals to molest students.

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While university officials at the time condemned his language, they said it was "protected speech."

He also penned an op-ed in 2017 for the Washington Times in which he defended Roy Moore, then-candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama, after several women accused Moore of sexual misconduct and assault.

"The women who accuse Roy Moore of lewd advances lack credibility," Rasmusen wrote. "He did court teenage girls, but what we see is consideration, not predation."

Carney said the university is aware of "other complaints over the years at various times."

If there is any indication Rasmusen is in danger, the university will take actions to protect him, Carney said, noting that would be done for any IU faculty, student or staff member.

In addition to his position at the Kelley School, Rasmusen also serves as an adjunct professor of economics in the IU College of Arts and Sciences.

Rasmusen started working for IU in 1992 as associate professor, according to his curriculum vitae. He has a bachelor's and master's degree from Yale University, as well as a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

According to the state's public employee compensation database, Rasmusen's 2018 compensation was about $230,000.

Contact Herald-Times reporter Michael Reschke at 812-331-4370, mreschke@heraldt.com or follow @MichaelReschke on Twitter.

Call IndyStar education reporter Arika Herron at 317-201-5620 or email her at Arika.Herron@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter: @ArikaHerron.