Carmen Rivera’s employment ended on June 30.
Carmen Rivera | benedek/iStock/Getty Images
Seattle University declined to renew criminal justice professor Carmen Rivera’s contract two weeks after she posted a video to Instagram that showed the provost yanking a Palestinian flag from the hands of a graduating student. University officials told Rivera they would not reappoint her because there weren’t enough classes for her to teach a full course load in the coming academic year, but Rivera suspects the decision had more to do with her public criticism of the provost and the university.
Rivera, who is not tenured and split her time between teaching and an assistant deanship, posted the video on June 14, the day of commencement. She contacted her dean before posting it—not for permission, but to “keep her in the loop,” she said. The video shows a graduating student approach provost Shane Martin on stage while unfurling a Palestinian flag. As the student gets closer, Martin grabs the flag and, after a brief struggle, hides it behind his back while the two take a photo together. Martin lets go of the flag and returns it to the student as she walks off the stage.
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