Hunter College has placed a professor on leave just days after she ignited widespread outrage for making what the school described as "abhorrent" remarks about Black students on a hot mic during a virtual meeting. Critics called her actions "blatantly racist" comments about Black students, as mounting calls for her to be fired continued to intensify on Tuesday.
Wednesday's decision comes after Allyson Friedman, an associate biology professor at Hunter College, was caught on a hot mic inadvertently interrupting a Black eighth-grade student who was speaking about her concerns over the possible closure of her Upper West Side public school during a public Community Education Council meeting on February 10.
Almost Evicted
"I write to share an update about actions that Hunter College is taking as a result of the incident during a recent virtual meeting of the New York City School District 3 Community Education Council in which abhorrent remarks were heard coming from a district parent who also is a Hunter employee," Hunter College President Nancy Cantor wrote in a statement on Wednesday.
"As I shared earlier, we are investigating this matter under the university's applicable conduct and nondiscrimination policies," Cantor wrote.
"Pending the outcome of our investigation, the employee has been placed on leave," the statement continued.
The CUNY school had earlier said it was "reviewing" Friedman's behavior after the tenured professor's remarks spread rapidly online and triggered intense public backlash.
"They're too dumb to know they're in a bad school," Friedman reportedly said on Zoom while her mic was still live. Friedman later said that she had attended as a parent of a public school student.
"If you train a black person well enough, they'll know to use the back," she said. "You don't have to tell them anymore."
She appeared to be reacting to remarks made earlier in the meeting by Reginald Higgins, the school district's interim acting superintendent. Higgins had been speaking about Carter G. Woodson, widely regarded as the father of Black history.
"If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told," Woodson wrote in his 1933 book "The Mis-Education of the Negro."
Intense Backlash
Two other adults on the virtual call immediately pushed back against the professor's remarks, while several participants looked on in stunned silence, some covering their mouths in disbelief.
The meeting then fell completely quiet for roughly ten seconds before moderators stepped in, apologized to the student, and encouraged her to continue speaking.
Friedman later tried to explain her words, saying she had been talking to her own child about systemic racism and was "referencing an example of an obviously racist trope." She also claimed that a microphone error meant her full comments were not clearly heard.
"My complete comments make clear these abhorrent views are not my own, nor were they directed at any student or group," Friedman told the New York Times.
Public officials quickly condemned the professor's behavior and called on Hunter College to act without delay. Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal described the remarks as "outrageous," adding to the growing chorus of criticism.
"It is particularly despicable that these vile words were uttered while children were giving testimony at the meeting, exposing them to this hatred," he said.
"She still isn't fired???" Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. also wrote on X.
"She shouldn't be near any child at all. Her words are abhorrent and racist. I feel awful for all those children who witnessed this. Hunter shouldn't allow her to continue in her role until a full investigation is complete," United Jewish Teachers president Moshe Spern wrote.
Cantor added in the statement announcing Friedman's leave that counseling services and an employee assistance program would be made available to anyone in the school community who felt they needed support.
"This painful incident unfolded at a meeting where Black History Month was being celebrated, and the pernicious and enduring effects of anti-Black systemic racism were being discussed, especially with regard to the role of educational institutions in addressing them," Cantor wrote.
"Hunter has long embraced such a role, which requires constant vigilance to remain attentive and responsive to the ways in which we continually draw and redraw discriminatory social lines."
