On Jan. 18, Drake University Business Marketing and Business Law student Mikayla Simpson posted screenshots on Facebook from Drake English professor Beth Younger’s Twitter account. These screenshots have gained notoriety in the following weeks due to their direct negative commentary toward Republican officials and Republicans in general.
Some of the screenshots show that Younger has used derogatory language toward Republican politicians, including Melania Trump and Joni Ernst. In another, she responds to a tweet about a man telling a woman that her being 27 makes her un-dateable with, “Men are trash.” Perhaps most controversial is the tweet where Younger said, “I was just pondering how much hatred I feel towards all the republican assholes. They need to suffer.”
Conservative students at Drake have expressed outrage at the way in which Younger shared her political opinions.
“How is any conservative student supposed to feel comfortable and respected in an environment where professors LITERALLY say they have deep hatred for us and want us to suffer,” wrote Simpson in a Facebook post.
Other students, however, have given statements of support for Younger.
Halle Fish, a Vocal Performance major with a concentration in Women and Gender Studies, took a class with Younger in Fall 2020.
“In my experience, I’ve seen Beth [Younger] strive to nurture discussion that is valuable, considers all perspectives, and seeks to make the most genuine and positive change in our community,” Fish said in an email.
This is an ongoing story and more will be reported on in the coming days
Beth Younger is an amazing professor. I greatly enjoyed her classes in my time at Drake, and she was nothing but professional in the classroom. Her classes were engaging and interesting, and I always walked away with a better understanding of the topic and new skills. The fact that Drake University never once addressed sexism and ableism from professors in this manner during my time at Drake, but make a university-wide statement about Professor Younger is absurd.
Complete and utter b.s. from the administration on this one.
If Beth Younger had made similar comments about democrats or said that women are trash, would she still be employed at Drake?