What ‘Feedback’ Got This Black Professor Fired In New Jersey?

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Were Essex County College administrators justified when they fired an adjunct professor after she defended a Black Lives Matter event in a controversial segment on Fox News last year? And what was the infamous “feedback” from the local community and student body that allegedly led to her removal?

Last week, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) launched a lawsuit against Essex County College in New Jersey Superior Court, demanding the release of information pertaining to the termination of former adjunct professor Lisa Durden.

Durden, a Newark resident, ardent civil rights activist and a former lieutenant governor candidate, set off a firestorm of controversy last year after she appeared on an episode of FOX News show Tucker Carlson Tonight and expressed her support for a Black Lives Matter Memorial Day celebration in New York City that only invited African-American people.

Although Durden didn't identify herself as a teacher at the Essex County College during her TV appearance, her race-related comments allegedly drew the ire of students, faculty and prospective students and their families, college administrators claimed.

She was later suspended and fired from her position at the college.

• See related article: Black Newark Professor Fired After Fox News Show

Essex County College President Anthony Munroe defended the college's termination of Durden, writing that "racism cannot be fought with more racism."

Munroe, a black male and former president of Malcolm X College in Chicago, said that the college "supports and affirms the right of free speech and independent views and expressions of those views for our faculty and staff," but that his administration has a duty to set a strong example of tolerance as well.

In an effort to learn more and see examples of the “inundation” of criticism that spurred administrators to terminate Durden, FIRE filed a New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request. FIRE’s first request was sent in June of 2017; they have yet to get the information they seek.

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“The public deserves to know how Essex administrators handled reaction to a professor’s participation in a political debate,” FIRE Staff Attorney Brynne Madway said, speaking about last week’s lawsuit. “This suit is also about Essex County College’s responsibility to be transparent about its termination of an adjunct professor who simply voiced her opinions publicly.”

An Essex County College spokesperson provided Patch with the following statement about FIRE’s lawsuit on Monday:

“Essex County College has no comment on litigation. As a general matter, the college remains committed to transparency to the public and complies in good faith with all valid public records requests.”

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