‘Cancel Culture’ has reached a new apotheosis at the University of Central Florida where a tenured professor of psychology was ignominiously fired in February 2020 for daring to question the existence of “systemic racism” and mocking the concept of “white privilege.”

That professor, Charles Negy, tweeted: “Black privilege is real: Besides affirm. action, special scholarships and other set asides, being shielded from legitimate criticism is a privilege.”

He also tweeted: “Sincere question: If Afr. Americans as a group, had the same behavioral profile as Asian Americans (on average, performing the best academically, having the highest income, committing the lowest crime, etc.), would we still be proclaiming ‘systematic racism’ exists?”

Negy, who is gay and part-Hispanic, should rate high on the Left’s scale of victimhood, but neither of those characteristics were enough to protect him from the wrath of university radicals. The professor’s commentary on “black privilege” so incensed and infuriated UCF students and faculty that they sparked a Change.org petition signed by 30,000 individuals calling for his firing as well as a full-out witch-hunt to dig up dirt on the professor by any means necessary.

Because academic freedom still exists—on paper, at least—UCF could not officially fire Negy for his comments on twitter. Instead, the university launched a 7-month investigation and compiled a 244-page report which alleges that Negy “failed to report and appropriately respond to a student’s disclosure of having been sexually assaulted by one of his teaching assistants,” and that he tried to stop “students from filing complaints related to his classroom conduct.” It also claims that he “mocked students, repeatedly used profanity, and made inappropriate comments related to sexual assault during class such as telling students that there were many false rape accusations that plagued college campuses.”

Negy called the report and subsequent firing a “complete assault on free speech, the free exchange of ideas, and the principle of tenure,” stating that “UCF terminated me based on their bogus, 244-page investigative report that lists highly dubious charges that none, alone, would warrant termination, but they believe together justifies de-tenuring me and firing me.” 

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), an organization which defends the First Amendment, also came to Negy’s defense.

“Nobody interviews 300 people over seven months about incidents covering 15 years unless they’re desperate to find something, anything, to use against their target,” stated FIRE’s Adam Goldstein. “…UCF implemented a process calculated to find reasons to fire an employee who had offended people with this speech.”

Negy has recently been vindicated. After challenging UCF’s decision to fire him and revoke his tenure through a union grievance process, an arbitrator ruled that the university failed to show “just cause” for their decision, especially given that he had previously received three awards for his teaching excellence and was “rated as overall outstanding” in his prior five annual evaluations by the university. UCF was ordered to reinstate Negy with his full salary, tenure, and benefits. The professor is currently teaching again at UCF (initially with a police presence to ensure his safety) but is still planning to file a lawsuit against UCF for violating his First Amendment rights.

UCF has received a “yellow light” ranking from FIRE for enacting policies which restrict a “limited amount” of protected expression, or “by virtue of vague wording, can too easily be used to restrict protected expression.”   For its unconstitutional and ideological decision to fire a professor who contradicted the left’s narrative on critical race theory, the University of Central Florida belongs on the list of America’s most fascist universities.