A controversial Tweet about Education Secretary Betsy DeVos led a Texas attorney and professor to eventually resign amid controversy last week.
Attorney and community college professor Robert Ranco shared a particularly nasty Tweet about Devos regarding her recent attempt to make sexual assault cases on college campuses more fair for the accused.
“I’m not wishing for it … But I’d be ok if #BetsyDevos was sexually assaulted,” Ranco wrote.
According to Breitbart News, the professor was responding to changes in the Title IX rules; his tweet momentarily brought both sides of the debate together, as they rushed to criticize his personal attack. Ranco’s comments were in response to DeVos’ recent decision to drop the Title IX policy imposed by the Obama Administration. In part, Title IX required colleges to conduct hasty “kangaroo court” cases when dealing with accusations of assault on campus.
Groups on both sides of the Title IX debate were swift to condemn Ranco and use of a serious crime against women to make a point. If Ranco sent out to get attention and stir controversy, but the loud and hard backlash that began almost immediately was likely not what he had in mind.
“It’s absolutely unacceptable to treat the experience of sexual violence in such a glib and political manner, it’s disrespectful to sexual assault survivors who have had that experience,”said Chris Kaiser of the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault.“It’s discrediting to the hard work we have to do to push back against the department’s agenda,”
Ranco Resigns Amid Controversy
After the widespread backlash and plenty of local attention, Ranco resigned from his position with an Austin law firm. One of the primary issues for Ranco was that his aggressive tweet was made from an account used for professional purposes. Within hours, users were Tweeting directly to Ranco’s employer, the Carlson Law Firm and demanding answers. A response came later in the weekend.
“This firm is a family and believe it’s up to me to show the same loyalty that I ask of my people,”the firm’s statement read. “I wasn’t going to make a rash decision about a member of this family just to appease people on social media. That said, I considered the health of everyone in our organization, promised my partners and my employees that we would act according to the values of our firm, and sat down to speak with Mr. Ranco.”
Two conclusions were reached by the firm, according to Carlson.
“With over 150 employees – 75% or whom are women – anyone in our company advocating or even expressing apathy towards sexual assault is an affront to all victims and a line that simply cannot be uncrossed,” the statement continued. “This has been an enormous distraction that has taken us away from the mission of our firm, which is to care for and help people. Understanding and accepting this, Rob is taking full responsibility and choosing to resign.”
Ranco sent a note to local news outlets apologizing for his actions. He also advised he would work hard to move forward and apologized to Education Secretary DeVos.
More Trouble Ahead
Austin Community College may have some difficulties moving on with their wayward professor as well.
“The recent social media comments made by a part-time employee on his personal page do not represent ACC’s vision, mission, and values,” the college said. “The college does not condone these comments and their sentiment. ACC is reviewing the situation and will take appropriate action. “
Ranco has since deleted both the tweet and his Twitter account, but not before it was saved and shared by hundreds of users. While the total aftermath is still unclear, Ranco may face additional sanctions at his Community College as well based on the statement above.
~ Conservative Zone
