It’s 10 a.m. on a Monday morning in the Social Science Building at Fresno State. Normally, students would be settled in for Professor Lars Maischak’s American History 11 class. But, events of the past week have made this lecture anything but normal.
Maischak is the professor who made controversial tweets about President Trump in February. The story came to light recently in a Breitbart News story. Among the most talked about:
To save American democracy, Trump must hang. The sooner and the higher, the better. #TheResistance #DeathToFascism
A sign posted on the front of the building and in the classroom notified students that classes for today and tomorrow were cancelled. It followed upon an e-mail the university sent to students last week. That didn’t stop at least two students who anticipated attended class, walking away disappointed.
Valencia Espinoza was unaware of the controversy of the last week. She says that Maischak only briefly discussed Trump in his class. “He’s really into his history,” she added.
A student who gave her name as Emeralda was disappointed her class was not taking place. “It may not be a good thing for a professor to be saying. I’m paying for my classes,” she told GV Wire. “I think those political views need to be set aside.” She agreed with Espinoza that Maischak only discussed Trump briefly.
Although Jason Hunter did not take classes from Maischak, he is still disappointed. “Hearing about it made me feel embarrassed to be a student, especially since I’m a History major too. From a teaching standpoint, you got to know your audience and know what to do and what not to do. It was really reckless on his part.”
A decision on what will happen to Maischak’s classes for the remainder of the week is expected from university administrators shortly.
Contact David Taub
Phone: 559-492-4037 / e-mail
This story was not subject to the approval of Granville Homes.
