OU Provost Kyle Harper released a statement saying his office would work to make students feel comfortable while also working to "honor the fundamental boundaries of the First Amendment" following a second incident in two weeks in which a professor used a racial slur in class.
The Daily reached out to Harper to ask for a comment on the incident yesterday, and received the statement in an email Tuesday morning.
"Our office is working in cooperation with the President’s Office and the Divisions of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Student Affairs to ensure that our students feel safe and respected in the classroom, and that our actions honor the fundamental boundaries of the First Amendment and academic freedom. At this time, we are listening to students directly impacted and actively working on the action items around training and incident response described by President Harroz yesterday."
The statement comes after OU history professor Kathleen Brosnan read the N-word numerous times from a historical document in one of her classes.
According to the OU Faculty Handbook, Harper is responsible for “academic policies and procedures and personnel actions involving faculty, students, and academic support staff,” among other things.
Harper's office did not comment after an incident on Feb. 11 in which OU journalism professor Peter Gade compared a racial slur to the phrase "OK, boomer."
