Converse College Prof. May Be Fired for Refusing to Attend Diversity Training

Converse College Prof Jeff Poelvoorde
Converse College

Converse College Professor Jeffery Poelvoorde may lose his job over his refusal to attend “diversity” training seminars held at the South Carolina college. Despite the looming threat of losing his job, Poelvoorde has refused to back down.

According to a report by the College Fix, Converse College Professor Jeffrey Poelvoorde is facing calls for his termination over his refusal to attend mandatory “diversity” training seminars.

Poelvoorde, who has taught politics at Converse College for 34 years, believes that administrators will use a loophole in the tenure system to terminate his employment contract.

“I have tenure, but our faculty handbook allows the suspension or abolition of tenure for six reasons … including insubordination,” Poelvoorde said. “I believe that’s what they’ll act on. They’ll consider this a formal aggregation of my contract by insubordination.”

In an open letter to his colleagues, Poelvoorde explained his opposition to the “diversity” training. Poelvoorde also claimed that he has been harassed on campus on the basis of both his Jewish faith and conservative political values.

“Our leaders profess that ‘Black Lives Matter.’ But is it ALL Black Lives or only SOME Black Lives that matter to them,” Poelvoorde wrote. “Perhaps they are only concerned about the loss of the Black Lives that confirms their political narrative and supports their progressive ideology. Perhaps Black Lives…but not Black Livelihoods…matter to them.”

In a statement, Converse College spokesperson Holly Duncan argued that the mandatory diversity training does not infringe on Poelvoorde’s academic freedom.

“The mandated training does not restrict or infringe upon the academic freedom of faculty members. In no way does it restrict any faculty member’s freedom in research, the publication of research, classroom discussions, or the right of any faculty member to speak as a concerned citizen about societal issues,” spokesperson Holly Duncan told the College Fix via email.

Poelvoorde addressed some of his campus critics in a lengthy YouTube video that was published in June. “If you’ve read Orwell…his whole career was devoted to keeping the language pure, or at least accurate when it came to political and social phenomena so that foolishness and tyranny shouldn’t sweep over the human race,” Poelvoorde said.

Stay tuned to Breitbart News for more updates on this story.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.