A Christian biology professor who was sacked by a Texas college — supposedly for teaching basic facts about human reproduction — has been reinstated. Dr. Johnson Varkey had taught at St. Philip’s College in San Antonio for 20 years when he was suddenly fired, with no specific reason given.
His termination letter said there’d been complaints over “preaching, discriminating against LGBT students and misogynistic banter.” CBN News reports no evidence was produced. The professor suspects the trigger was a few students walking out of class when he stated the fact that human sex is determined by X and Y chromosomes.
After he filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission the college agreed to settle the case and reinstate Dr. Varkey. He’s expected to be back in the classroom next September.
The professor told Faithwire in an interview last year that the college had informed him of an ethics complaint in January 2023 and terminated him just weeks later, purportedly without allowing him to learn the precise reason for his firing. Dr. Varkey said he had no opportunity to offer any defence. He said had been teaching the same realities about the human reproductive system for two decades, and this is the first time he has experienced a negative reaction.
His attorney from First Liberty Counsel Keisha Russell suspects the case “probably has a lot to do with new cultural trends on these issues.” She explained that: “When I saw the termination letter, and I see that the university is accusing him of religious preaching, I think that what they don’t understand is, even if he was, they still can’t fire him for saying something that he believes to be true.”
“One of the things he said was that life begins at conception. While some might view this as a religious, it’s also scientific and the professor was speaking from a baseline of ethical and academic integrity. It’s also protected speech under the First Amendment, so all the way around the university is wrong here. We just think it’s a shame that they would fire one of their long-term professors for teaching what he’s always taught,” Ms. Russell lamented.
Photo: First Liberty
