BREAKING: Adjunct professor terminated for political Facebook posts

By Grace Bertrand

Kate Ecke, a social work adjunct professor at Rider, was abruptly fired on Sept. 17, according to a universitywide email from Rider President John Loyack, which did not name Ecke directly. 

In the email, Loyack wrote, “Today, Rider University took swift and decisive action to terminate an adjunct faculty member whose behavior did not reflect our expectations for respectful and civil engagement. During our review of this matter, several individuals at Rider received a threat directed at our campus as a result of this individual’s actions.” 

Rider’s Vice President of External Affairs Kristine Brown declined to comment, stating it was a personnel matter and she could not disclose additional information.

In an interview with The Rider News, Ecke said that the reasoning for her termination was not because of anything she said in the classroom or on university grounds, but rather what she posted on her personal Facebook account following the murder of conservative political activist, Charlie Kirk. 

Ecke said, “This is just my personal Facebook and my own personal views about what’s happening in the world right now.”

Kirk, who launched the national group Turning Point USA, was fatally shot on Sept. 10 at Utah Valley University. TPUSA has more than 800 college chapters, according to their website on college programs, including Rider’s chapter.   

In one of her Facebook posts, Ecke wrote: “I don’t care that Charlie Kirk got shot. Kids are being slaughtered in their classrooms and the same people crying outrage for him have nothing to say when it’s children in body bags. Spare me the hypocrisy. Charlie Kirk chose his platform—those kids never chose to die at school.” 

In other posts, Ecke said, she was calling for nonviolence: “Mouth breathers: the whole message here is that no one deserves to be shot. At school. In a movie theatre. In a library. You’re missing the whole point of this.” 

Another post read, “For everyone saying ‘Charlie Kirk didn’t deserve to die that way’: Welcome to the f—ing group chat. That’s what we have been saying all along. No one should be shot, ever. That’s like, the whole point of this conversation.” 

Rider terminates Ecke over “veiled threat” 

On Sept. 14, Ecke received an email from Rider’s Provost Kelly Bidle requesting a meeting the following day. In the email shared by Ecke, Bidle said, “An issue has come to our attention that involves your safety and the safety of our students … I am also letting you know you are welcome to bring union representation, if you wish.” 

Ecke met with Jeffrey Halpern, chief grievance officer of Rider’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, half an hour before entering the provost’s meeting together. Along with Bidle, they were joined by Darryl Mace, vice president of community engagement and belonging, and Erika Worthy, vice president of human resources. 

Ecke said, “They framed it on Monday that they had received a threat, an email, specifying me and the campus, and it was a veiled threat is what they said.” Ecke also said she received the “veiled threat” on Sept. 14 when she asked Bidle about her safety. When Ecke asked what the threat was, she was told they could not tell her. At the meeting, they requested Ecke cancel her 300-level Social Work Policy class on Monday and teach remotely on Wednesday. 

Ecke said she was told by the administrators that they did not want the students or another professor teaching in the classroom for their own safety.

On Sept. 16, Ecke received another email from Bidle asking for her to come in for another meeting the following morning. The email read: “There has been a veiled threat, which is why we wish to meet and discuss. We take these issues very seriously, particularly given the climate in our nation and higher education.” 

Upon arriving for the meeting, Ecke was immediately asked about her safety. She was then told that after Rider’s Senior Leadership Team and a lawyer for Rider reviewed her Facebook posts, they felt that she was inciting violence and would need to be terminated or could resign from her position. 

Ecke said, “They kind of framed it in a way like [resigning] was the better choice and I said you know what? I feel like if I resign, then I’m saying that I was wrong … and I don’t think that I was wrong by saying what I said on Facebook.” 

Ecke said administrators refused to tell her what would happen to her course and the 11 students she taught once she was gone. 

After being terminated, Ecke took to Facebook to post about her situation, stating that she was let go “not for failing my students, but for refusing to stay silent.” 

In a statement to The Rider News, Mason Capasso, president of Rider’s TPUSA chapter, said that while he does not know the full story on what happened, what he has heard is disappointing to him. He wrote, “I didn’t appreciate what she had to say and thought it was disrespectful. Even though she was using her free speech or the First Amendment, I think it needs to be taken into consideration that this man wasn’t just a political activist, he was a father, not of one, but two children and a husband.” 

In a universitywide email on Sept. 14, Loyack addressed Kirk’s death and provided resources to anyone who may be mourning him, specifically naming Rider’s TPUSA-chapter. 

After reading the email, Ecke recalled thinking to herself, “There are maybe students in my class who are part of [Rider’s TPUSA-chapter] and I will be sensitive and aware of that.” She said, however, “I would never talk about what my own personal feelings are about these events in my social work policy class. The classroom is not my platform, it’s not my soapbox.”  

AAUP respond to faculty firing 

In response to the sudden termination of an adjunct professor, Rider’s AAUP chapter held a union leadership meeting on Sept. 17 to address faculty’s fears and concerns. 

President of the chapter Maria Villalobos-Buehner said she wanted to make sure all of the faculty stood together on the issue in solidarity. She said, “We have to be very clear about our stance and that [AAUP] doesn’t condone this kind of thing.”  

In a facultywide email on Sept. 17, Rider’s AAUP stated the university’s actions were “clearly in violation of the University’s obligation under our Agreement. Under Article IV Academic Freedom, the University agreed that it would ‘not threaten, coerce, or discipline members of the bargaining unit because of what they say or what they do as private citizens.’” 

Villalobos-Buehner said, “I’ve never seen this in my 10 years … There was nothing in those messages, I didn’t see anything that she was threatening [anyone]. Actually, the people that made the threats [against Ecke] are the ones that need to be held accountable.” 

The email from Rider’s AAUP chapter stated that they would move forward with the necessary steps: “We should all be outraged by the University’s actions in this case. If they can fire an adjunct for what they say as a private citizen, they can fire any of us for what we say. The AAUP will take all actions within its power to right this wrong.” 

When asked how Ecke’s termination makes Villalobos-Buehner feel about the future of Loyack’s new presidency, she said, “If we’re going this route, there is going to be resistance.” 

Ecke was not aware at the time she posted these messages on Facebook that they would ultimately lead to her termination. The threats and messages she received following her posts, however, made her fearful for her and her family’s safety, she said. Since the posts were published, Ecke said she has been doxed and received calls to her personal business that she owns, requesting she be fired.  

A change.org online petition was launched on Sept. 17, calling on Rider to reinstate Ecke. The petition, started by a “concerned student” urged people to “Stand with Professor Kate Ecke. Stand with free speech. Stand on the right side of history.” 

Although Ecke is cautious of hers and her students’ safety, she said she does not regret her decision to stand behind her posts. 

Ecke said, “I have a five-year-old and 10 years from now, if she asks me ‘what did you do when this was happening?’ I don’t want to have to look her in the eye and be like, ‘I was quiet.’”