A Hunter College professor is receiving calls for her termination days after remarks she made during a Community Education Council meeting went viral.
Allyson Friedman, an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, was overheard responding to an eighth-grade student from Community Action School who feared her school on the Upper West Side would be closed or relocated by the Department of Education (DOE).
“They’re too dumb to know they’re in a bad school. If you train a Black person well enough, they’ll know to use the back. You don’t have to tell them anymore,” Friedman said to visual gasps by many of the attendees on the Zoom call, which was a hybrid meeting at the Joan of Arc school building at 154 West 93rd Street.
Friedman told Newsweek that she was attempting to explain systemic racism in a side conversation, and the remarks were heard as she inadvertently unmuted herself.
The school released a statement on Saturday, calling Friedman’s remarks “abhorrent” and that the situation is under review.
“Hunter College is aware of an incident during a recent virtual meeting of the New York City School District 3 Community Education Council in which abhorrent remarks were heard coming from a district parent who also is a Hunter employee,” the statement began. “Even as these remarks were made in the individual’s role as a private citizen and we understand that the district is conducting an investigation into the matter, Hunter College is reviewing the situation under the university’s applicable conduct and nondiscrimination policies.”
It concluded: “In service to Hunter College, we expect our community members’ actions and words to comport with our institutional identity, values, and policies. We stand firm in our enduring commitment to sustain an inclusive educational environment that is free of discrimination of any kind, in which people of all identities will feel welcome and can thrive.”
In her own statement, Friedman said her remarks were “not directed at the student speaker” nor do they reflect her beliefs.
“Regardless of context, my words were wrong and caused real harm,” Friedman said. “I take full responsibility for their impact, and I am deeply sorry to the students, families, educators, and community members who were hurt. I immediately sent written apologies to Dr. Higgins, the Community Action School, and the Community Education Council.”
She added: “As a member of the Hunter community, I am a strong proponent of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and I share Hunter’s mission of advancing opportunity, respect, and belonging for students from all backgrounds. I regret deeply that my words were inconsistent with those values. I support the Community Action School and its mission, and I regret adding any pain or distraction at a moment when the community’s concerns about the DOE’s school-closure process deserved full attention. I am committed to accountability and repairing harm.”
