Penn State Professor Sues University, Alleges Racial Discrimination

A former Penn State professor is suing the university, alleging that he was discriminated against on the basis of race.

Professor Zack De Piero “was individually singled out for ridicule and humiliation because of the color of his skin,” the lawsuit, filed by The Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR), reads. De Piero previously worked as an English professor at Penn State Abington where he was reportedly subjected to several racially motivated tirades and forced to teach that the English language is the “embodiment of White supremacy.”

“When he complained about the continuous stream of racial insult directed at White faculty in the writing department, the director of the Affirmative Action Office told him that ‘There is a problem with the White race,’ that he should attend ‘antiracist’ workshops ‘until you get it,’ and that he might have mental health issues,” the lawsuit goes on to say.

The English department administrator who received De Piero’s complaint, Liliana Naydan, “expressed her view that racism practiced against White faculty and students is legitimate,” according to the lawsuit.

One of the workshops De Piero was told to attend was titled “White Teachers are a Problem,” the lawsuit states. “The ‘White Teachers are a Problem’ video imposed on Penn State faculty… associated ‘White supremacy’ with all the evils of the world,” it goes on to say.

De Piero explained the reasoning for his lawsuit and the conduct from Penn State administrators during an interview with Fox News. The English professor told the outlet that he was forced to undergo several “antiracist” workshops that follow the idea that all White people are racist.

Penn State wanted him to believe that “as a White individual, I’m somehow responsible for all the injustices and suffering currently in the world and in the history of the world.”

“I think there is almost a religious, cult-like environment where you had this Original Sin. In this case, I’m White. I need to repent for that sin. I need to keep going to these [trainings], keep doing the work… I think they were waging a psychological war campaign and they’re trying to break people. And they almost broke me. But they didn’t.”

The lawsuit further alleges that Naydan pressed faculty to implement what amounts to a race-based grading system that would penalize White and Asian students so that “students of color” would have comparable grades.

“Defendants’ bigotry manifests itself in low expectations. They do not expect Black or Hispanic students to achieve the same mastery of academic subject matters as other students and therefore insist that deficient performance must be excused,” the lawsuit said. “Second, Defendants’ bigotry manifests itself in overt discrimination against students and faculty who do apply consistent standards, especially White faculty.”

The suit also names an equity administrator, Alina Wong, who led faculty on a “breathing exercise” where White teachers were ordered to hold their breath longer to “feel the pain that George Floyd endured.”