Jumping the Gun?

Nicholas Winset, an adjunct accounting professor at Emmanuel College (Mass.), was dismissed last week for leading a discussion about the Virginia Tech massacre in which he talked about gun control, whether one should respond to violence with violence, and pointed a marker at some students and pretended to shoot them.

According to an Associated Press article
on Salon.com:

He said administrators had asked the faculty to engage students on the issue. But on Friday, he got a letter saying he was fired and ordering him to stay off campus.

Winset, 37, argued that the Catholic liberal-arts school was stifling free discussion by firing him, and he said the move would have a “chilling effect” on open debate.

In retaliation, Winset posted several videos on YouTube defending his actions and chastising the administration for urging faculty members to discuss the Virginia Tech tragedy with students and then firing him for doing so.

Emmanuel College issued the following statement:

Emmanuel College has clear standards of classroom and campus conduct, and does not in any way condone the use of discriminatory or obscene language.

But, according to the AP report, at least one of Mr. Winset’s students thought the administration may have jumped the gun:

Student Junny Lee, 19, told The Boston Globe that most students didn’t appear to find Winset’s demonstration offensive.