 Essex County College hired pop culture commentator and producer Lisa Durden as an adjunct professor of communications, in part for her past appearances on such networks as Fox News. The interview was so bizarre that Carlson concluded it by calling her “demented.” 
 
 When she arrived on the New Jersey campus on June 8, two days after she appeared on Fox News, she was told to cancel her classes and report to Human Resources. Google Lisa Durden and Tucker Carlson. The complaint surprised Durden because, in her words, she’s a regular commentator on Fox and elsewhere on everything from “Kim Kardashian’s ass to tough issues such as Black Lives Matter.” She’d appeared on a panel at Essex called Radical Women in Media, at the college’s request, earlier this year. Pressed further, officials allegedly told Durden that she’d improperly identified herself on the show as an Essex professor. “Essex County College publicly lynched me in front of my students.” 
 
 While the letter didn’t directly mention her appearance on Fox News, administration officials brought it up to her in person. The clip, in which she argues in favor of the right of Black Lives Matter protesters to claim all-black protest spaces on Memorial Day, includes no reference to Essex by Durden, Carlson or anyone else. When Carlson asked her why it was acceptable to exclude whites from a black gathering, she said, for example, "Boo-hoo-hoo, you white people are just angry you couldn't use your white privilege card to get invited to the Black Lives Matter all-black Memorial Day celebration." Durden, of course, is a not a typical scholar in that she was an outspoken media personality before coming to Essex. For more than a decade, the Newark native has participated on panels at the school without getting paid, and landed New York media internships for communication students, some of which have led to full-time employment. She was recently honored by the city of Newark for her outstanding work in media with women and young people." Durden, who wants to be reinstated, is fuming, believing her right to free speech has been trampled. Jeffrey Lee, vice president for academic affairs, said in a statement to NJ.com that the college “promotes a community of unity that is inclusive of all” and that “general counsel has handled this matter in a way that complies with New Jersey state law.” He provided no further details. A number of Durden's campus colleagues have written letters to the college, expressing support for her. "For those of us who are involved in advocacy, politics, who may hold opinions which differ from those in different spaces, this kind of thing has a terrible chilling effect,'' Rebecca Williams, an assistant professor, wrote in her letter to the administration. "As this suspension will become public in the world of academia -- and especially in black public intellectual circles -- it will bring more negative publicity to our institution even as we are trying to move forward with our new president," Anthony Munroe, who was appointed last month. Jennifer Wager, professor of communications, wrote in another letter that she'd already asked Durden to teach courses in the fall and needed to know if she was returning. There is currently an online petition for Essex County College to reinstate Durden, which so far has over 800 signatures. "I find it shocking that an African-American woman would be so disrespected at her place of employment for merely exercising her First Amendment right to free speech,'' said Professor Jennifer Wager.
– An adjunct professor in New Jersey says she was suspended by the administration because of an appearance on Fox News, the Star-Ledger reports. Lisa Durden was scheduled to teach courses on speech and popular culture at Essex County College in the fall but was informed June 8 she had been indefinitely suspended. "They did this to humiliate me,'' Durden says. "Essex County College publicly lynched me in front of my students.'' Two days earlier, she had appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight to defend a Black Lives Matter event. According to Mediaite, it didn't go well, with Carlson calling Durden "demented" at one point. Durden says officials told her she was suspended because she associated herself with the college during the appearance. But Inside Higher Ed reports that at no point did Durden mention her position at Essex and even specified she was "speaking for Lisa Durden." It wasn't her first appearance on Fox News, and Durden believes someone called the college to complain about her comments and the administration caved. On Tuesday, Carlson was supportive of the decision to suspend Durden, calling the idea of her teaching children "insane." Durden's colleagues are trying to get her reinstated, and an online petition has more than 1,000 signatures. "I find it shocking that an African-American woman would be so disrespected at her place of employment for merely exercising her First Amendment right to free speech,'' one Essex professor says.