EXACTLY WHAT SHE DESERVES: Professor Fired For Saying Otto Warmbier ‘Got Exactly What He Deserved’
Eric Owens
Education Editor
The University of Delaware has sacked Katherine Dettwyler, the taxpayer-funded professor who declared that Otto Warmbier was a “spoiled,” “white, rich, clueless” American college student who “got exactly what he deserved” when he recently ended up comatose and then died at the age of 22 after serving part of a lengthy prison sentence in North Korea.
“The University of Delaware has announced that Katherine Dettwyler, who last taught in the spring as an adjunct faculty member, will not be rehired to teach at the University in the future,” school officials said in a statement sent to The Daily Caller on Sunday.
Dettwyler made her comments on Wednesday on Facebook and in the comments section of a National Review article. At some point on Friday, she later removed or otherwise concealed the comments.
“Is it wrong of me to think that Otto Warmbier got exactly what he deserved?” the no-longer-employed professor wondered on Facebook. “He went to North Korea, for fuck’s sake, and then acted like a spoiled, naive, arrogant, US college student who had never had to face the consequences of his actions.”
The 62-year-old anthropology professor — an expert on breastfeeding (according to a now-deleted curriculum vitae) — was even more critical of Warmbier in her National Review comments.
“Otto is typical of the mindset of a lot of the young, white, rich, clueles [sic] males who come into my classes,” Dettwyler wrote. “These are the same kids who cry about their grades, because they didn’t think they’d really have to read and study the material to get a good grade. They simple deserve a good grade for being who they are. Or instead of crying, they bluster and threaten their female professors.”
Dettwyler blamed Warmbier’s parents for allowing their son to grow up “thinking he could get away with whatever he wanted.”
She also wrote that “young, white, rich, clueless white males routinely get away with raping women” in the United States.
Warmbier’s bad behavior — allegedly stealing a sign — reminds Dettyler of male students who “think nothing of raping drunk girls at frat parties and snorting cocaine, cheating on exams, and threatening professors with physical violence,” she said, according to Campus Reform.
Warmbier was detained in North Korea in 2016 after he was accused of stealing one of the country’s propaganda posters. He was sentenced to 15 years hard labor in North Korea for this minor crime. He was finally returned to the United States 17 months later but was in a coma due to severe brain damage. He died on June 19.
In the University of Delaware’s press release, school officials pointedly observe that Dettwyler was an adjunct professor working on a contract and not a full-time school employee.
“On June 23, the University issued a statement about comments that Dettwyler recently posted online, at a time when she was not employed by the University, concerning student behavior and the Otto Warmbier incident,” the University of Delaware statement explains.
Also, school officials stress that they don’t share Dettwyler’s opinions. “Those comments in no way reflect the values or position of the University of Delaware.”
“The University of Delaware is committed to providing our students, and our community, with an inclusive and supportive atmosphere characterized by respect and civility,” the press release says.
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