DePaul Cancels Professor's Class After N-Word Controversy

CHICAGO, IL — A professor who used the N-word in a first-year law class said the cancellation of his class was unjust, according to several reports. DePaul University ended Professor Donald Hermann's class after students filed a complaint against him over his use of the racial slur. Hermann claimed his axed class was a public relations move, according to a report by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Hermann said the decision to cancel his class came after a lawsuit was launched against Jennifer Rosato Perea, the dean of the law school. The lawsuit claimed she blocked another law professor from university posts in retaliation for his racial diversity advocacy at the university, according to the Sun-Times.

Hermann said his use of the N-word "has become something for the dean to clothe herself in as an advocate for minority students."

Hermann used the racial epithet in a hypothetical scenario to describe how much provocation the courts need before they view a person as an aggressor, according to the report.

Hermann said he used the example of a white supremacist at the funeral of a civil rights leader, asking the question: If the supremacist provoked attendees by using the racial slur, and they attacked the supremacist, would shooting attendees be justified? The professor said the supremacist's use of the word could make the supremacist an aggressor, and therefore guilty of murder, according to the report.

After a group of students in Hermann's class filed a complaint against the professor, the university offered the students permission to transfer to another class. A DePaul spokesperson said nearly 80 percent of the students transferred out, and the decision was made to keep the cohort together.

DePaul's Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity is still investigating Hermann's use of the N-word, and he expressed frustration that action was taken against him before the investigation was completed, the Sun-Times reported.

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