This archive report was first published on 12 August 2019.
Professor Fired After Trying to End Sit-In With Bolt Cutters ¶
Johns Hopkins University professor Daniel Povey, 43, was fired after attempting to end a student sit-in with bolt cutters in May 2019.
According to a copy of the termination letter posted on Povey's website, he was an assistant research professor in the Whiting School of Engineering.
The sit-in, which lasted for 34 days, was in protest of a proposed private campus police force and contracts the university has with federal immigration authorities.
On May 8, Povey, accompanied by six others, attempted to enter the occupied building, Garland Hall, using bolt cutters. However, he was ejected by the students.
Hours after Povey's attempt, police cleared the building and arrested seven protesters, but the city's top prosecutor later dropped all charges.
Povey claimed that he was motivated to take action because a computer server hosting his research was malfunctioning inside the building.
However, the university's vice dean for faculty, Andrew S. Douglas, wrote in the termination letter that Povey had 'endangered the university community' by forcibly entering the building.
Johns Hopkins University spokeswoman Jill Rosen stated that the university could not comment on an individual case, but that a 'troubling incident' in early May had led to an investigation.
Johns Hopkins's Office of Institutional Equity is continuing to investigate claims that Povey was violent, was 'motivated by racially discriminatory animus and created a hostile environment.'
Povey has accepted a new job at Facebook in Seattle but expects to be fired due to the publicity surrounding his termination.
