UCF gives notice of intent to terminate to longtime professor
Orlando, FL(FOX 35 Orlando) - The University of Central Florida has given a longtime professor a notice of intent for termination after a lengthy investigation.
It involves claims of unprofessional conduct in the classroom by a psychology professor, Dr. Charles Negy. It has nothing to do with controversial tweets he made over the summer the university said.
Many students are relieved.
"I wanted to drop the class but he was one of the main professors who taught every important class, as a psychology student," said UCF Psychology major Derreasha Jones.
She said she filed a complaint against Dr. Negy two years ago. UCF is now handing Negy a notice of intent to terminate him.
"He said many inappropriate comments that I don’t feel comfortable saying.
In the UCF report, investigators state there were 94 complaints filed against Negy -- 50 of them were protected under the First Amendment. Many of them pertained to race and religion in his Cross-Cultural Psychology course. According to the report, UCF investigators contend that Negy created a hostile learning environment through discriminatory harassment.
"I was truly upset about his blatant disregard for multi-culturalism."
In the report, Negy is accused of deterring students from filing complaints and failed to disclose that a student told him she was sexually assaulted by one of his teaching assistants in 2014.
RELATED: UCF professor under fire after controversial tweets about race
Jones said, "It's very scary that a professor had that much power to just act in such a way and then not report it."
Negy is also accused of providing false information during the investigation allegations which include:
Denying having told students that God does not exist.
Denying having told students that minorities never invented anything that impacted society.
Jones added that it "just hurt, especially in the modern time we are living in."
Negy's attorney Samantha Harris released this statement:
"From the moment people started demanding that UCF fire Charles Negy for his tweets, the school’s motto has been 'show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime.' The outcome of UCF's investigation was predetermined. This pretextual, defamatory investigative report is the latest chapter in UCF’s effort to ruin Dr. Negy -- a man with a distinguished 22-year teaching career -- because he has become politically inconvenient. UCF, along with those who solicited and investigated false complaints against him, have violated his rights and defamed him, and will be held accountable in court."
Back in June, Negy told FOX 35 News that he is not a racist, describing himself as part white, Hispanic, and gay.
"I don’t regret what I say, I still want to put forth these ideas. because we’re never gonna solve these racial inequalities, we’re always going to be fighting with each other if we don’t have these brutal conversations."
Jones said she is proud of UCF for holding him accountable.
"I’m just glad to see something is being done and our voices are being heard." Negy has worked at UCF since 1998. He is currently not allowed on campus. He has until January 25 to give UCF a written response. A final decision regarding proposed termination will be made after that.
Read the University of Central Florida Office Of Institutional Equity report below. Mobile users can click here to read.
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