Law School Professor Fired Over Racist Comments That Went Viral

Fast action by Georgetown Law.

Well, that *was* quick. When I wrote about the controversial Zoom incident involving Georgetown University Law Center professors Sandra Sellers and David Batson, I hoped the law school would move quickly on the matter, but this is faster than even I’d imagined.

As a quick recap, Sellers was caught on camera saying of a Black student in a negotiations class she teaches with Batson that “a lot of my lower ones [students] are Blacks. Happens almost every semester. And it’s like, oh come on, you know? There are some really good ones, but there are also some that are just plain at the bottom and drives me crazy.” While Batson just seems to nod in agreement. It’s truly an astonishing display.

The law school’s Black Law Student Association called for the immediate termination of Sellers. Dean William Treanor just sent an email to the Georgetown Law community, letting them know that’s exactly what’s been done.

I informed Professor Sellers that I was terminating her relationship with Georgetown Law effective immediately. During our conversation, she told me that she had intended to resign. As a result of my decision, Professor Sellers is no longer affiliated with Georgetown Law. Professor Batson has been place on administrative leave pending the investigation by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Affirmative Action, the results of which will inform our next steps. Until the completion of the investigation, Professor Batson will have no further involvement with the course in which the incident arose.

He went on to note:

We are taking significant steps to ensure that all students in this class are fairly graded without the input of Professor Sellers or Professor Batson.

Dean Treanor also said that this is not the end of the law school’s response. But no word, as of yet, whether BLSA’s other demands (a “public apology from Professor David Batson in his failure to adequately condemn Sellers’ statements; critically assessing and improving its current subjective grading system, including an audit of Professor Sellers’ past grading and student evaluations to account for her admitted biases; and committing to hiring more Black professors who will be better situated to fairly assess Black students in a non-biased manner.”) will be met.

Sponsored

Read Dean Treanor’s full email below.


headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

Sponsored