Fresno State Could Lose Donors After Professor Called Barbara Bush "Racist"

California State University at Fresno is trying to do damage control after a professor insulted Barbara Bush in a Twitter rant just hours after the former first lady passed away. In one tweet, she said: "Barbara Bush was a generous and smart and amazing racist who, along with her husband, raised a war criminal.  F*** outta here with your nice words.” She continued her attack in a second tweet that read: "I'm happy the witch is dead. Can’t wait for the rest of her family to fall to their demise the way 1.5 million Iraqis have.” 

Jarrar engaged with people who criticized her comments and called for her to lose her job. At one point she boasted that she could not be fired because she is a tenured professor at the university. After some users on social media posted her work number and email address, she replied with the phone number for a crisis hotline at Arizona State University, which was flooded with angry calls. 

The school distanced itself from Randa Jarrar's comments but said it supported her right as a private citizen to say them. Now, the school could lose money after prominent donors said they are reconsidering how much money they will give to the school. 

Ed Dunkel Jr. is a big donor to the school and is a member of the President's Circle for Excellence which recognizes donors. He told the Fresno Bee that while he has not decided if he will pull his donations over Jarrar's comments, other alumni are concerned and some might not let their children attend the school. 

"But candidly, I have a lot of friends that I've been talking to, and these are people who donate now and talking about holding back, and some are even questioning whether to send their kids to Fresno State."

Fresno State President Joseph Castro said he has been in constant communication with alumni and donors and said they are outraged by her comments. 

"They're outraged, and I'm outraged as well," he added. "This is behavior that is unacceptable as a university that models the development of leaders. We just cannot tolerate it."

But, despite the outrage, Castro said he is not worried about losing donations over Jarrar's comments. He said that while people have made threats on social media to cut back on their financial contributions, none of the people he spoke too suggested they would stop giving money to the school.

"I've seen some things on social media, but no one has said that to me directly," Castro told The Bee. "The conversations I'm having are more about their concern, and I share that concern. I understand where they're coming from. I'm asking them for understanding here as we work through the complexities of this issue."


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