Petition demands CSUF fire lecturer who assaulted conservatives
Anthropology lecturer Eric Canin was suspended after an investigation substantiated charges that he had assaulted a student, and is currently facing possible battery charges from the District Attorney.
The California State University, Fullerton College Republicans are circulating a petition calling for the firing of a lecturer who assaulted a conservative student on campus last month.
The California State University, Fullerton College Republicans are circulating a petition calling for the firing of a lecturer who assaulted a conservative student on campus last month.
Eric Canin, an anthropology lecturer at CSUF, became involved in an altercation with CR members who were counter-protesting a “No Ban, No Wall” demonstration on campus in early February, calling the students “uneducated” before shoving, and allegedly punching, one of them.
[RELATED: CSUF prof allegedly punches conservative student on campus]
The CR members filed battery charges against Canin, and he was subsequently suspended by the university after an internal investigation “substantiated the charges that a physical altercation occurred, that a campus employee struck a student, and that as a consequence the speech of the student group was stopped.”
Ever since, the CRs have been gathering student signatures for a petition to permanently ban him from campus, and have also been working with student government representatives to present the student body’s case against Canin.
“Our hope is that the student body will stand as one voice in denouncing violence against students,” the group declared in a statement to Campus Reform.
[RELATED: ‘Leftist Fight Club’ trains UCF students to fight Republicans]
Canin is currently under investigation by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, and may face battery charges for his actions.
CR President Christopher Boyle told Campus Reform that while Canin’s suspension is encouraging, the group wants to ensure that he is not able to repeat the performance on CSUF’s campus at any point in the future.
“I think it’s important for the school to stand behind students, to ensure that they can feel safe on campus. A professor who would assault a student, no matter what their beliefs, has no place at a university,” Boyle asserted. “The CSUF College Republicans will stand firm and fight to for action to be taken against Professor Canin, to ensure he never gets the chance to assault another student again.”
CSUF Chief Communications Officer Jeffrey D. Cook outlined a similar objective in an official statement condemning Canin’s actions, remarking that “the prospect of an incident like this on our campus is profoundly troubling.”
[RELATED: Berkeley condemns ‘disturbing’ attacks on College Republicans]
“Our club is working hard to partner with other campus organizations to ensure that Professor Canin is not allowed to teach at the school. We want to tell our school administration that having Eric Canin on campus is a threat to our safety and freedom of speech,” added CR Vice President Amanda McGuire. “As students, we seek to show the strength of our voices by defending our right to peacefully protest or speak freely.”
The petition calling for Canin’s dismissal is still being circulated, but CR members told Campus Reform that they have already collected scores of signatures, and expect to collect many more before submitting the document to administrators.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @RepublicanPeter
