Virginia professor resigns after saying Biden supporters ‘anti-Christian’

A professor and dean at Virginia Wesleyan University has resigned after he wrote a post on Facebook in which he called supporters of President-elect Joe Biden “ignorant, anti-American and anti-Christian.” 

Paul Ewell was a management, business and economics professor and previously the dean of Virginia Wesleyan University Global Campus. 

In the now-deleted FB post, Ewell wrote, “If you were ignorant anti-American, and anti-Christian enough to vote for Biden, I really don’t want to be your social friend on social media. I wouldn’t hang out with you in real life, I don’t want to hang out with you virtually either. You have corrupted the election. You have corrupted our youth. You have corrupted our country. I have standards and you don’t meet them. Please remove yourself.” 

President Donald Trump amplified Ewell’s remarks when he retweeted a story about the professor where the “ignorant, anti-American, and anti-Christian,” comments were in the original post. The president called the story, “Progress!” 

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Ewell told Virginia news outlet WAVY that he “set a poor example in that post of what a Christian should be.” 

“I have many Democrat friends, and I want to apologize for saying that I didn’t want to be friends with them and for calling them names,” he told the station. “I am genuinely sorry for letting my anger get the best of me.”

Virginia Wesleyan University is a private institution and, therefore, its staff is subject to stricter adherence to university values. 

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In a release about the resignation, VWU stated: “Last week, Dr. Paul Ewell resigned as Dean of Virginia Wesleyan University Global Campus. Today, the University accepted his resignation as Professor of Management, Business, and Economics.”

Regarding the post, the university issued a statement just days afterward, saying, “These views and opinions are expressly the individual’s own. Civic engagement and religious freedom are at the core of the University’s values, and we remain an inclusive and caring community that empowers meaningful relationships through listening, understanding, and communication.”

According to local reporting, one supporter described Ewell’s resignation as “cancel culture.” However, one alumna, Jasmine Patterson, said the biggest challenge with Ewell’s post was that it did not “invite engagement.” She said it closed “off the idea of having one to work through a difference of opinion.” 

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