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University of Kansas instructor placed on administrative leave after violent election comments during lecture

Students walk down Jayhawk Boulevard, the main street through the main University of Kansas campus, Friday, April 12, 2024, in Lawrence, Kan. The Kansas Board of Regents, which oversees higher education, has drafted a new policy against requiring diversity, equity and inclusion statements on applications for students, job seekers and staff promotions. (AP Photo/John Hanna) (John Hanna, Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

The University of Kansas has placed an instructor on administrative leave after he made violent comments surrounding sexism from election voters during a lecture.

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A video that went viral on X shows Phil Lowcock, Ph.D, giving a lecture at the school. While discussing the upcoming presidential election, the video captures Lowcock saying the following:

“If you think guys are smarter than girls, you’ve got some serious problems. This is what frustrates me. There’s going to be some males in our society that will refuse to vote for a potential female president, because they don’t think females are smart enough to be president. We can line all those guys up and shoot them. They clearly don’t understand the way the world works. Did I say that? Scratch that from the recording. I don’t want the deans hearing that I said that.”

Hours after the video made its way across the internet, KU announced that Lowcock had been placed on administrative leave. In the post, the university said Lowcock offered his “sincerest apologies” and that he “deeply regrets the situation.”

The statement also said that the instructor was intending to “emphasize his advocacy for women’s rights and equality.”

It’s unclear what course the instructor was teaching when the comments were made. On the KU Athletics site, Lowcock’s title is listed as Director of International Student-Athlete Support for the women’s tennis team. However, his page has recently been removed from the site.