A University of New Hampshire professor was placed on leave after he was exposed for allegedly posing as an “immigrant woman of color” on Twitter.
Craig Chapman, a white male assistant chemistry professor, allegedly used the Twitter account to “troll” actual women and people in the LGBTQ community.
Twitter user @drama_science discovered Chapman was seemingly behind the Twitter account @piney_the. “Piney_the been incriminating people, repeatedly harassing scientists, trying to fight ‘wokeness,’ all while claiming to be an immigrant woman of color,” @drama_science tweeted.
The Twitter sleuth provided screenshots of @piney_the’s account and pointed to connections between @piney_the’s tweets and tweets from Chapman’s main account.
“Privilege? Lol. I am an immigrant woman of color who grew up in poverty, sleeping on a dirt floor. What a tool you are,” a tweet by @piney_the read.
A University of New Hampshire spokesperson told the Daily Dot Chapman is on leave and an investigation into the matter has been launched.
“UNH was recently made aware of allegations on social media about a member of its faculty. We are deeply troubled by what we’ve learned so far and immediately launched an investigation. The employee at the center of allegations on social media is on leave and not in the classroom. In order to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation the university is unable to comment further,” it wrote.
After being called out, Chapman deleted his main Twitter account. The @piney_the account has also since been deleted.
The Daily Beast reports the chair of the chemistry department at the university, Glen Miller, has acknowledged Chapman’s wrongdoings but is vowing to “not give up” on him. In an email to the Daily Beast, he said: “The fake twitter account was in fact set up and run by Craig. There were a large number of things written by Craig that ranged from unfortunate to hurtful to deeply offensive. These statements do not represent me, nor the collegial, collaborative, accepting department in which I have had the privilege to work for the past 25 years. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, of course, but when those opinions are dismissive or hurtful or harmful to others, it is not ok with me. I reject those statements and their intent, wholeheartedly. But even so, I do not reject Craig. I am not giving up on Craig.”
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H/T Towleroad