“With his resignation withdrawn, professor Senjo returned to being on leave and the appropriate parties on campus were notified,” the university’s president, Brad Mortensen, wrote in a letter to students and faculty, which Newsweek obtained on Wednesday.
Mortensen’s letter noted that tenured faculty members, like Senjo, are given five business days to rescind resignation offers after initially submitting them. It also confirmed a “review of the impact” of Senjo’s tweets on university operations was underway. Until the review is complete, Mortensen said Senjo “remains out of the classroom.”
“I recognize that this development will confuse and upset many members of our greater campus community, and understandably so,” his letter continued. “The sentiment in those tweets is abhorrent, and we strongly condemn it.”
Mortensen also acknowledged that “language that promotes violence, diminishes individuals or makes people feel unsafe undermines our desire to create a diverse and inclusive environment where all feel welcome.”
Senjo originally submitted a resignation notice on June 3, after the university became aware of messages he shared on Twitter during demonstrations against law enforcement abuse and systemic racism that followed George Floyd’s death in the custody of Minneapolis police officers. Senjo’s Twitter account was deleted as of Wednesday, though other users have since shared screenshots of the tweets to social media.
The screenshots show Senjo commenting on incidents where law enforcement used tear gas, wooden bullets and physical force to disperse or intimidate protestors. In his comments, Senjo suggested he would have gone further to harm demonstrators in those situations.
Responding to a tweet with video footage of New York City Police Department vehicles driving toward a group of protestors at the end of May, Senjo wrote, “That’s not how I would have driven the car into that crowd.” No injuries were reported among demonstrators as a result of the incident.
The use of force by law enforcement during rallies resulted in numerous injuries over the last several weeks. On June 2, a restaurant owner in Louisville, Kentucky, was shot and killed by police officers amid protests taking place in the city.
As Salt Lake City news station KUTV reported, Senjo originally informed Weber State University administrators of his intentions to resign via email.
“I studied the situation and the public fury is too great. I have to resign immediately. There’s no other option,” Senjo wrote, according to KUTV.
