{"id":856596,"date":"2021-10-07T13:14:09","date_gmt":"2021-10-07T17:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=856596"},"modified":"2021-10-07T13:14:11","modified_gmt":"2021-10-07T17:14:11","slug":"tennessee-tech-professors-suing-after-university-punishes-them-for-threatening-harassing-intimidating-turning-point-usa-advisor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tennessee-tech-professors-suing-after-university-punishes-them-for-threatening-harassing-intimidating-turning-point-usa-advisor\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee Tech Professors Suing After University Punishes Them for \u2018Threatening, Harassing, Intimidating\u2019 Turning Point USA Advisor"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftennessee-tech-professors-suing-after-university-punishes-them-for-threatening-harassing-intimidating-turning-point-usa-advisor%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=856596&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-150818346.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.3.0\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>Two Tennessee Tech University (TTU) professors are suing TTU after the university punished them for \u201cthreatening, harassing, and intimidating\u201d a Turning Point USA (TPUSA) advisor and students. TTU found the two professors, Dr. Julia Gruber and Andrew Smith, at fault for posting flyers that singled out TTU\u2019s TPUSA advisor, a fellow TTU professor named Andrew (A.J.) Donadio, and accused him and TPUSA of racism and hate group activity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>As punishment, TTU barred Gruber and Smith from serving as faculty advisors to any student organization, participating in study abroad or faculty-led trips, receiving non-instructional faculty assignments or awards, accepting salary increases for one year. Additionally, the two were ordered to meet with the dean before and after the semester, attend behavioral meetings, and have their classes observed. TTU warned the professors they would be fired for any further violations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Gruber and Smith <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/530376660\/Gruber-and-Smith-v-Tennessee-Tech-University\"><span>filed suit<\/span><\/a><span> Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. Judge Waverly Crenshaw, Jr., will preside over the case. Gruber and Smith asked the court to declare that TTU had denied them their constitutional right to free speech and to reverse TTU\u2019s disciplinary action.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The pair made <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/tennessee-tech-professors-post-fliers-calling-colleague-turning-point-usa-adviser-racist\"><span>national headlines<\/span><\/a><span> over their flyer earlier this year, which stated:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"24\">\n<p><i><span>This racist college professor thought it would be a great idea to help start a Tennessee Tech chapter for this national hate group, where racist students can unite to harass, threaten, intimidate, and terrorize persons of color, feminists, liberals, and the like, especially their teachers.&nbsp;<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Their organization created a national \u2018Professor Watchlist\u2019 to harass and intimidate progressive educators, including many women, African-American, and Muslim professors.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Professor Donadio and Turning Point USA. You are on our list. Your hate and hypocrisy are not welcome at Tennessee Tech. No unity with racists. Hate speech is not free speech.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Gruber, an associate German professor, and Smith, a senior English instructor, claimed that the flyers were protected speech under the First Amendment. The professors claimed the flyers addressed a public concern, not a personal grievance, and were a commentary on the perception that TTU was tolerating racism.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>They also disagreed with TTU\u2019s characterization of the flyers as \u201cthreatening, intimidating, and harassing.\u201d Instead, they argued the flyers actually promoted TTU\u2019s goals of diversity and fair treatment by calling out racism, hatred, and bigotry.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Smith created the flyers in early February after Gruber told him she\u2019d witnessed Donadio clap in support of a local school board\u2019s decision to keep its Native American-themed mascot, the Redskins. Gruber and Smith both thought the mascot was racially insensitive; Gruber had even <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ca.gofundme.com\/f\/replace-algoodracist-school-mascots\"><span>created<\/span><\/a><span> a GoFundMe to launch a campaign for replacing the mascot. It only raised $400 of its $5,000 goal. Gruber\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.change.org\/p\/the-school-board-change-the-algood-middle-school-mascot\"><span>associated petition<\/span><\/a><span> received over 4,000 signatures.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Even as TTU was investigating Gruber and Smith for the flyers, the two professors doubled down on their decision to target Donadio and TPUSA. The pair <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/watch\/live\/?ref=external&amp;v=935076647319921\"><span>appeared<\/span><\/a><span> on The Rude Pundit, a left-leaning podcast, to defend their actions in April. They claimed that they would be open to debating TPUSA over their differences, despite the flyer\u2019s assertion that TPUSA\u2019s speech was intolerable hate speech. Their main argument was that the flyer was a protected form of free speech.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Both <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.professorwatchlist.org\/professor\/juliagruber\"><span>Gruber<\/span><\/a><span> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.professorwatchlist.org\/professor\/andrewsmith\"><span>Smith<\/span><\/a><span> are now listed on TPUSA\u2019s \u201cProfessor Watchlist,\u201d a database of professors who \u201cdiscriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>TTU didn\u2019t respond to The Daily Wire\u2019s request for comment by press time.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Corinne Murdock is a reporter for The Daily Wire and AZ Free News. Have something you think the mainstream media won\u2019t cover? Send tips to <\/span><\/i><a href=\"mailto:corinnejournalist@gmail.com\"><i><span>corinnejournalist@gmail.com<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a&nbsp;<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em>member<\/em><\/a><em>.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two Tennessee Tech University (TTU) professors are suing TTU after the university punished them for \u201cthreatening, harassing, and intimidating\u201d a Turning Point USA (TPUSA) advisor and students. TTU found the &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-856596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=856596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}