Oklahoma Professor Allegedly Fired for Bringing in Gay Speaker To Class
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A longtime Oklahoma Christian University professor was allegedly fired for bringing in a speaker who is openly gay. Michael O’Keefe taught graphic design at OC for 41 years, until last Monday.
So much for those “campus free speech“ campaigns. https://t.co/wqjsgii9Ns
— Anne Nelson (@anelsona) March 16, 2022
According to a statement from O’Keefe’s lawyer, Kevin Jacobs, the school claimed he was fired for “gross misconduct” contrary to the mission and values of the school. According to the statement, O’Keefe didn’t bring an openly queer speaker to speak to the class full of college seniors to advocate for gay rights, but to prepare them for a world where people are different from you. This choice allegedly resulted in O’Keefe losing his job.
If you’re wondering how this could possibly happen, it’s because O’Keefe was employed by a private university: Oklahoma Christian University. In a statement to local outlet KFOR, legal counsel for the school, Stephen Eck, stood by the school’s decision and said the university will “always put first the wellbeing of our students.” Unsurprisingly, O’Keefe’s firing is getting a lot of (deserved) backlash.
For context, the speaker was a guest in O’Keefe’s class called “The Business of Branding Yourself.” According to the statement from Jacobs, one aspect of the class was how to overcome obstacles and develop resilience and character. Sounds valuable. Adding insult to injury, though, is the claim that the speaker wasn’t even an entirely random person—they were actually alumni of the university. And they’d worked as an adjunct in the school for close to two decades.
Emily Thorton, who graduated from the school in 2019, spoke to NBC News in an interview about O’Keefe’s firing. She described his sudden disappearance from the school as leaving students “abandoned,” and said he was known for being invested in students and guiding them from “start to finish.”
Disgusted but not surprised to see @okchristian fire a professor for inviting a gay speaker in. O’Keefe was the only professor that would sponsor the College Democrats club I started as a student 15 years ago, really sad to see this. https://t.co/Pa4Bool6hh
— Jon Carroll (@admiraljonjon) March 16, 2022
Thorton recalled LGBTQ+ students experiencing mental health struggles due to the school’s ultra-conservative policies. Some students, according to Thorton, felt targeted and even threatened with expulsion because of it. “It was tough watching some of my best friends go through that,” Thornton told the outlet, adding that the school wasn’t “accepting” of students who had same-sex relationships as well as relationships with God.
my brother-in-law (Michael O’Keefe) got fired from @okchristian as the Art Professor for bringing in a gay speaker. #sickening #oklahomachristianuniversity #LGBTQ #share #fyp #Oklahoma #justice #pride pic.twitter.com/EdlskPj2u6
— Jodi Swanson (@WOSJodi) March 12, 2022
Watch the clip below.
