University of Michigan professor writes anti-Republican op-ed, faces calls to resign

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last updated 8 January 2015

Conservative groups at the University of Michigan are calling for communications professor and department chair Susan Douglas to resign over a partisan op-ed she penned for In These Times magazine. They say the op-ed, originally titled "It's Okay to Hate Republicans," promotes intolerance and hatred.

In the essay, now titled "We Can't All Get Along," Douglas rails against conservatives, accusing them of having "certain psychological characteristics," such as "[d]ogmatism, rigidity and intolerance of ambiguity; a need to avoid uncertainty; support for authoritarianism; a heightened sense of threat from others; and a personal need for structure," The Washington Times reports. Douglas continues:

I hate Republicans. I can't stand the thought of having to spend the next two years watching Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Ted Cruz, Darrell Issa or any of the legions of other blowhards denying climate change, thwarting immigration reform or championing fetal "personhood." [In These Times]

A university spokesman said the views expressed in Douglas' piece are those of an individual faculty member and do not represent the school, though UM considers the freedom to "express diverse ideas and perspectives in a respectful environment and without fear of reprisal" a core value.