NPC clarifies instructor resigned
National Park College issued a statement on Monday clarifying that instructor Paula Muncrief Ford resigned on Friday after sharing a post on her personal Facebook page regarding race relations, and was not fired.
The Sentinel-Record reported in Saturday’s edition that Ford had been fired, after asking an NPC official on Friday if it could
be verified that she had been fired for sharing a “racially insensitive” post. Darla Thurber, NPC vice president for External Affairs, told the reporter that she could verify it, and could email the college’s statement, as well.
“I apologize for any misunderstanding,” Thurber said in an email on Monday.
” … We neither confirmed nor denied that Paula was fired because we usually refrain from sharing any personnel details. Since you asked if Paula had been fired for posting a racially insensitive post on Facebook, I asked that we have time to prepare a statement and wanted to confirm the post. I responded that the post appeared to be what was sent to us as well,” Thurber said in Monday’s email.
“At National Park College there is zero-tolerance for racism or discrimination, and we will challenge any instance of it on our campus,” the statement said. “We are deeply committed to diversity and inclusion as spelled out in our strategic plan, our high priority objectives, and the aspirations and values by which we work.”
“The College is aware of a social media post that directly contradicts our values,” the statement said. “While we respect every individual’s right to freedom of speech, we also expect the employees of National Park College to reflect and demonstrate our values and we hold them accountable to meet this high standard. The College celebrates diversity among its students, staff, and faculty and works to identify and eliminate institutional barriers to cultural diversity.”
Ford could not be reached for comment on Friday.
“In our statement Friday we indicated ‘the employee will no longer work at National Park College’ because that was the most accurate way we could communicate it that afternoon,” Thurber said in Monday’s email.
“Paula did, in fact, resign.”
“As we shared, we have zero-tolerance for racism and discrimination at NPC and will challenge any instance of it on our campus,” National Park College President John Hogan said in a statement released by Thurber on Monday. “This includes hate speech which is defined by abusive or threatening behavior, speech or writing against a particular group, especially on the basis of race, religion, or sexual orientation.
“Trust is our currency. We cannot break that trust, or we sacrifice our learning environment. Our students’ well-being is our priority, and we will not budge from that. At all times, and even more so now, what we say and do matters.
“We would like to clarify that the employee resigned.”
Portions of the post reportedly shared by Ford appear to paraphrase a sevenyear-old post known as “Proud To Be White.”
On Friday morning, Ford posted the following to her Facebook:
“So I shared a post a couple of days ago that I probably shouldn’t have shared,” she said. “I apologize for this. My intention wasn’t to offend anyone as I’m not that person. And honestly it’s not how I personally feel.”