Dive Summary:
- Florida Atlantic University renewed the $43,000 contract of instructor Deandre Poole for summer and the 2013-14 academic year.
- Earlier this year, Poole found himself at the center of a controversy involving a classroom exercise, taken from the textbook for his communication course, in which students were asked to write "Jesus" on a piece of paper and stomp on it in an attempt to teach them about the cultural power of words and symbols.
- Poole received threats following the controversy, which also raised academic freedom concerns among faculty due to the exercise being banned, and was placed on leave for safety reasons while the university conducted an "external threat assessment."
From the article:
... In a statement released Friday afternoon, FAU said the decision to renew Poole’s contract “was made after careful thought, due diligence and input from students, faculty and administration.”
The statement also says that “The University’s administration will have an ongoing dialogue with the faculty to address issues of academic freedom and responsibility within the FAU community.” ...