By Emily Garcia |
Staff writer
The Augusta University (AU) College of Dentistry issued a statement on June 19, condemning an email sent by Dr. Kirk Kimmerling, an adjunct assistant professor who intermittently does clinical teaching.
Dr. Kimmerling sent an email to the dean’s office and the entire student body at the school of dentistry in response to the student and resident-led protest “White Coats for Black Lives,” on the dental college of AU’s campus.
The adjunct assistant professor called the protest, “disgraceful” and asked questions about the rate of Black on Black crime.
He wrote, “Minneapolis St. Paul had 900 (sic) black Americans killed in their community in 2019. Many residents of Minneapolis refer to Minneapolis as Murderapolis.
Dr. Kimmerling also stated in his email that he was disgusted by this action by Augusta University and that the, “silent majority of both Black and White despise the BLM [Black Lives Matter Movement.]
The dental college adjunct assistant professor asked the recipients of his email to get a handle on the, “stupidity of young Americans who will someday take over a perverse understanding of the world.”
AU’s official response stated that Dr. Kimmerling’s email does not represent the views of Augusta University or the Dental College of Georgia.
In the response AU’s dental college wrote that they condemn the content of his statements but, “must accede to his right to make them consistent with the speech protections granted under the First Amendment.”
A post of the response on dental college’s official Facebook page received numerous comments complaining that college’s response was unacceptable and that Dr. Kimmerling should not be invited to teach at AU’s college of dentistry again.
One commenter pointed out that if Dr. Kimmerling were to return to teaching after sending out such an email to the entire student body then he does represent the views of the institution.
*-Note: An earlier version of the story called Dr. Kimmerling an alumnus of the Dental College of Georgia. The Bell Ringer regrets the error.
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