Fresno State University: Professor Randa Jarrar鈥檚 Tweets Following Death of Barbara Bush Lead to Investigation
Cases
California State University - Fresno
Case Overview
Following former First Lady Barbara Bush鈥檚 death on April 17, 2018, Fresno State University professor Randa Jarrar used her personal Twitter account to criticize the Bush family and the Iraq War, and to rejoice in Bush鈥檚 passing. After Jarrar鈥檚 comments and subsequent sparring with critics on Twitter went viral, Fresno State administrators called a press conference and announced that the university was initiating a 鈥渓ong鈥 investigation, while the president condemned the remarks as 鈥渂eyond free speech鈥 and 鈥渄isrespectful.鈥 After a coalition of civil liberties organizations led by FIREwrote to Fresno State to remind the university that Jarrar鈥檚 expression is protected by the First Amendment, the university abandoned its investigation.