The University of Kansas professor who called for men who do not vote for Kamala Harris to be “lined up” and “shot” has left the university after a video of his abhorrent comments went viral.
The professor, who was placed on administrative leave after the video went viral, has since been identified as Department of Health, Sport & Exercise Sciences lecturer Phil Lowcock.
The infamous video of his comments began circulating on social media on Wednesday, showing him stating: “[If you think] guys are smarter than girls, you’ve got some serious problems. That’s what frustrates me. There are going to be some males in our society that will refuse to vote for a potential female president because they don’t think females are smart enough to be president. We could line all those guys up and shoot them. They clearly don’t understand the way the world works.”
INSANE: Professor at @UnivOfKansas says that men who don't vote for Kamala should be lined up and shot.
He then asks that line to be cut from the recording so the dean doesn't find out.
Any comment @UnivOfKansas?pic.twitter.com/3TotbHSqLa
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) October 9, 2024
While the comments were reportedly made during a rant in class earlier this year, the university did absolutely nothing about it until the video went viral. In a statement to local news station KCTV, University of Kansas Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor Barbara A. Bichelmeyer confirmed that Lowcock has left the university.
“The instructor has apologized to me and other university leaders,” Bichelmeyer noted in the statement. “He has explained to us that his intent was to emphasize his advocacy for women’s rights and equality, and he recognizes he did a very poor job of doing so.”
“The free expression of ideas is essential to the functioning of our university, and we fully support the academic freedom of our teachers as they engage in classroom instruction,” she added. “Academic freedom, however, is not a license for suggestions of violence like we saw in the video. While we embrace our university’s role as a place for all kinds of dialogue, violent rhetoric is never acceptable.”
It is unclear whether the professor was fired or left the university voluntarily, though the news comes after many high-profile Kansas lawmakers demanded his firing, including Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS). Marshall has since celebrated the news in a post on X.
“I am glad to report that the professor who called for men to be ‘lined up and shot,’ declaring open season on people who don’t plan to vote for Kamala Harris, is no longer an employee at KU,” he wrote.
UPDATE: I am glad to report that the professor who called for men to be 'lined up and shot,' declaring open season on people who don’t plan to vote for Kamala Harris, 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗞𝗨. https://t.co/98BraigKLC
— Dr. Roger Marshall (@RogerMarshallMD) October 11, 2024
