University of Kansas instructor on leave after comment to 'shoot' men who won't vote for women goes viral

Matthew Kelly, The Kansas City Star on Oct 9, 2024

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The University of Kansas placed an instructor on administrative leave following comments he made endorsing violence against men who would not consider voting for a woman to be president.

A video of the incident was first posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, Wednesday and has since been viewed more than 2 million times.

In it, the instructor, whom the university has identified as Phillip Lowcock, rants to a class of students about men who question the intelligence of women.

“(If you believe) guys are smarter than girls, you’ve got some serious problems. That’s what frustrates me,” Lowcock says in the video. “There are 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 could line all those guys up and shoot them. They clearly don’t understand the way the world works.”

The video shows Lowcock pacing a few steps before he stops in his tracks and acknowledges what he just said.

“Did I say that? Scratch that from the recording. I don’t want the deans hearing that I said that,” Lowcock says before the video cuts off.

KU spokesperson Erinn Barcomb-Peterson said the university just became aware of the incident on Wednesday. In a statement Wednesday afternoon, KU said the instructor would remain on leave until an investigation is completed.

“The university is aware of a classroom video in which an instructor made an inappropriate reference to violence,” the university statement reads.

“The instructor offers his sincerest apologies and deeply regrets the situation. His intent was to emphasize his advocacy for women’s rights and equality, and he recognizes he did a very poor job of doing so. The university has an established process for situations like this and will follow that process.”

Blake Flanders, president of the Kansas Board of Regents, which governs state colleges and universities, said the board “believes every American citizen has the right to vote how they see fit without fear of retribution or violence.”

“All of us, especially those in positions of authority, have a responsibility to respect and uphold that right. The Regents firmly oppose the use of violent rhetoric in our political discourse,” Flanders said in an email statement.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly praised KU for taking “swift action” to place Lowcock on leave and initiate an investigation.

“While healthy political discourse is paramount to our democratic society, violent rhetoric is never acceptable,” Kelly said in a statement. “We must strive to make our classrooms a place where diverse viewpoints are respectfully discussed, and politics is not weaponized to make our students feel unsafe or demonized for having differing opinions.”

Lowcock is a health sport and exercise lecturer who also serves as director of international student-athlete support. Archived records show the KU Student-Athlete Support Services posted to X on Tuesday wishing Lowcock a happy birthday. That post has since been removed, and Lowcock’s presence appears to have been scrubbed from the KU website as of Wednesday afternoon.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Lowcock has worked at KU since 1993.

Video of his inflammatory statements was first posted by Ned Ryun, a former KU track star and the son of former Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Ryun. The footage was quickly shared by conservative commentators, and a number of prominent Kansas Republicans condemned the instructor’s statements.

“Anyone saying men who don’t vote for Kamala Harris should be ‘lined up and shot’ is deranged and shouldn’t be around students nor academia,” U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall posted on X. “I trust that the @UnivOfKansas will take immediate action and fire this professor.”

Fellow U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran called his words “disturbing and inappropriate”.

“There should never be a call for violence anytime or anywhere in the classroom. We must cool down the political rhetoric and be respectful and civil to each other, & that is especially true for someone charged with teaching our young people,” Moran said.

Prasanth Reddy, who is running against Sharice Davids in the Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District, described the instructor’s rhetoric as “appalling and dangerous” and called on Davids to join him in demanding that he be fired by KU.

Zac Donley, a spokesperson for Davids, said she “unequivocally condemns all acts of political violence and is focused on finding common ground and overcoming political differences.”

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