After his participation in a recorded discussion in which a former colleague made racist comments about the academic performance of certain Black students, an adjunct law professor at Georgetown University has resigned.
On Saturday, a Georgetown spokesperson announced that David Batson has submitted his resignation, which Bill Treanor, the executive vice president and dean of Georgetown Law, accepted.
In the letter, Batson expressed his sadness over the turn of events, explaining that he did not share the opinions of his colleague.
“During my eight years at Georgetown, I have always evaluated my students as individuals, based on their merit and performance, without regard to race, ethnicity, gender or other factors,” Batson wrote.
In the face of the surprising remarks made by a fellow professor, Batson said that he did not know how to “appropriately respond” but knew that he “missed the chance to respond in a more direct manner to address the inappropriate content of those remarks.”
Racist Zoom Discussion
Batson appeared in the Zoom session with Georgetown Law Professor Sandra Sellers, who made disparaging remarks about the alleged poor academic performance of her Black students every semester.
“You know what? I hate to say this, I end up having this angst every semester that a lot of my lower ones are Blacks,” Sellers remarked. “Happens almost every semester and it’s like ‘oh come on.’ I get some really good ones but there are also usually some that are just plain at the bottom, it drives me crazy… so I feel bad.”
During Sellers’ tirade, Batson appeared to nod at some of her remarks but mostly stayed silent. The footage has gone viral on social media, garnering over one million views.
Treanor terminated Sellers despite her intention to resign, while the university will be “taking significant steps to ensure that all students in this class are fairly graded without the input of Professor Sellers or Professor Batson.”
.@GeorgetownLaw negotiations Professors Sandra Sellers and David Batson being openly racist on a recorded Zoom call.
Beyond unacceptable. pic.twitter.com/q5MoWjBok8
— Hassan Ahmad (@hahmad1996) March 10, 2021