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A Syracuse University professor was threatened on social media for sharing their thoughts regarding the 9/11 terrorist attacks. 

In a campus-wide email sent on Monday, Chancellor Kent Syverud and David Van Slyke, the dean of Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, revealed the recent harassment and violent threats against the professor’s comments on 9/11. 

“These comments have been the subject of much scrutiny and vehement disagreement by critics,” Syverud and Van Slyke said. “That is their right, just as our professor has the right to free speech, however uncomfortable it may make anyone feel.” 

The email did not identify the name of the involved professor. 

A political science professor at Maxwell has been under scrutiny on Twitter. The professor did not respond to a request for comment via phone call at around noon Monday.

SU’s Department of Public Safety is in contact with the involved professor, according to the email. DPS also engaged the support of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. 

SU will neither condemn nor dismiss the professor, as Maxwell and the university hold free speech across the political spectrum — within the limits of the law and the university’s anti-harassment policy — as one of their key values, Syverud and Van Slyke said in the email. 

“Speech can be offensive, hurtful or provocative,” the email reads. “Still, Syracuse University will stand by the principles of free speech and by our commitment to keeping our community safe in the face of threats and harassment.”

Published on September 13, 2021 at 1:16 pm

Contact Francis: btang05@syr.edu | @francis_towne