Prof. Strauss: “I hope this outcome will serve as a reminder to universities across the country that professors have a right to free speech both inside and outside the classroom.”The University of Southern California has dismissed the complaints against economics Professor John Strauss over anti-Hamas comments he made at a pro-Palestine campus protest last November, the LA Timeshe heard the protesters at the November 9 rally shout “death to Israel,” told them they were all “really ignorant.
USC administrators informed Strauss on Tuesday that the case against him was closed, the complaints by students would be dismissed and that he will face no formal discipline, according to the professor and his attorney.Summarizing the probe’s findings, said USC determined it had insufficient evidence that he was deliberately targeting any student and that his words — uttered in the span of less than a minute — didn’t create a hostile environment.
“This was an exchange of opinions in a public area of campus on an issue of public concern that rose nowhere near to the level of conduct that constitutes harassment, which is severe, pervasive and persistent,” said Harris, referencing the formal criteria for evaluating harassment. “Living under a cloud for seven months is not nothing, and it has a chilling effect broadly speaking on faculty’s willingness to express themselves on matters of public concern,” Harris said.