ThoughtCrime in Academia
9th August 2013
Geoffrey Miller, a psychology professor, has been censured by the University of New Mexico, two months after he sent out a fat-shaming Twitter post that caused an angry Internet uproar.
It may have taken Miller less than a minute to write out this message and hit the “Tweet” button: “Dear obese Ph.D. applicants: if you didn’t have the willpower to stop eating carbs, you won’t have the willpower to do a dissertation #truth.” But the consequences of that tweet will last much longer.
According to a university memo released on Tuesday, Miller — who has tenure at the University of New Mexico and was a visiting professor at New York University this summer — will be required to:
Not serve on any committee involving the admission of graduate students to the psychology department for the duration of his time as a faculty member at the university.
Work with the faculty co-advisers of the psychology department’s diversity organization to develop a plan for sensitivity training on obesity (for himself to undergo, said a university spokeswoman). The plan must be approved by a co-adviser or by the chair of the department.
Be assigned a faculty mentor for three years with whom he will meet on a regular basis to discuss potential problems.
Have his work monitored by the chair of the department.
Apologize to the department and his colleagues for his behavior.Miller did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
I’ll just bet he didn’t. You depart from the Narrative, you get sent to a re-education camp, as we see.