Education

UConn Professor Who Harangued Christians Doubles Down On Crazy, Expects Punishment

Font Size:

The University of Connecticut anthropology professor who went berserk on a group of seemingly peaceful religious demonstrators on campus earlier this week has doubled down on crazy.

The professor, James Boster, was filmed weaving a tapestry of obscenities that as far as The Daily Caller knows is still hanging in space over UConn’s campus in Storrs.

After his rant went on YouTube (see below), Boster spoke to NBC Connecticut, alleging that the evangelical demonstrators disparaged the ethnicity and sexuality of some students passing by.

“When they attacked the student, I went out to confront them,” Boster told the station. “It was my moral duty to become outraged.”

And outraged he certainly became.

Only a couple minutes of footage appears on YouTube, and whatever set the professor off is not shown. At the same time, as TheDC’s Jim Treacher has observed, the footage only shows the religious people engaging in peaceful assembly. (RELATED: UConn Prof. James Boster Harangues People Preaching Christianity: ‘Bull$#|+! Praise Darwin! [VIDEO])

The YouTube clip, which shows Boster conducting a chant that went: “Praise Darwin, Praise Darwin!”

Oddly, given the chant, the anthropology professor said the demonstrators’ claims that evolution is false did not bother him.

“I was trying to engage them as cast members in the drama that I was creating,” Boster told NBC Connecticut.

Naturally, local adherents of Christianity aren’t happy.

“I have a problem with the professor proselytizing the students for a particular spiritual philosophy,” Peter Wolfgang of the Family Institute of Connecticut told the station.

Notably, an assistant football coach at UConn, Ernest Jones, was forced to resign after the school’s dean publicly chastised him for recommending that “Jesus Christ should be in the center of our huddles.”

“UConn came down on him like the wrath of God,” Wolfgang reminded NBC Connecticut.

A statement issued by university officials said that “everyone” – except, possibly, Ernest Jones – “has the right to exercise free speech on our campuses.”

The statement went on to condemn “the use of abusive language and the confrontational posture seen” in the YouTube clip, and to say that the school expects professors “to act in a way that promotes civil discourse and to express themselves respectfully.”

Boster said he expects to suffer some kind of punishment because of his outburst.

“Yes, I’m in deep trouble,” he told NBC Connecticut. “The dean has summoned me into his office.”

He added that he doesn’t plan on backing down. “Shame on you for condemning someone to hell that they don’t even know,” he proclaimed.

Incidentally, Boster gets middling marks on the popular website Rate My Professor. In general, students applaud Boster for his “really easy” tests but criticize him because “he rambles” and “talks aimlessly in class.” “It is easily the worst class I’ve ever taken,” complained one student. “He didn’t actually teach anything useful.”

WATCH:

Follow Eric on Twitter and on Facebook, and send education-related story tips to erico@dailycaller.com.