Debate over slave history at UT leads to firing of lecturer

Students walk across campus at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in this 2005 file photo.
Students walk across campus at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in this 2005 file photo.

A University of Tennessee Knoxville lecturer has been fired after a student challenged her teachings on slave history then complained the debate led to retaliation and inappropriate conduct by the teacher on social media.

"I've never seen this before," said Kayla Parker, a senior at UT who recently wrote about the exchange with her teacher on the online forum Medium. "I was shocked. I knew it was something out of the ordinary when I saw her posting on my Facebook, because I've never seen a professor do that."

The university said Judy Morelock, a lecturer in the department of sociology who had a contract through July, was terminated in April when the university bought out her contract.

Read more from our news partners at The Tennessean.

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