Social websites are all the rage right now but posting made by a professor from the Poconos go against school policy and have gotten her in trouble.
It's been one week since East Stroudsburg University Professor Gloria Gadsden has been suspended for posting messages on her Facebook page.
University officials said the comments were threatening and they had to take action.
Gadsden has been an associate professor of sociology at East Stroudsburg University for the past five years.
She said she recently joined the popular social networking site called Facebook but two messages she said she posted on her page caused her to be suspended from the campus.
"They found two posts, linked them together and are suggesting I was a threat. I told them I was venting. They're family friends and it's a private page," Gadsden said.
On January 21 Gadsden wrote, "Does anyone know where I can find a very discrete hitman? Yeah, it's been that kind of day."
Then in February she posted, "Had a good day today, didn't want to kill even one student. Now Friday was a different story."
"I had had a really bad day on Friday and then Monday went well and I was excited that is went really well," the suspended professor said. "It was not intended to threaten a particular person, not directed to any student. Sometimes teaching is hard and exhausting work. Sometimes we don't get support for that so we vent with family and friends and that's all it was."
That's not how East Stroudsburg University took it.
A spokesperson said last Wednesday they put Gadsden on paid administrative leave, pending a further investigation.
In the meantime, Gadsden said she's been receiving plenty of support from other professors across the country.
"I received quite a few letters from around the nation, from faculty, from others who also had been target because of Facebook comments," Gadsden added. "I don't think there's a definitive policy I violated so it would be nice if administration was clear about these things."
A spokesperson with the university said a student brought Dr. Gadsden's Facebook postings to their attention.
The university does not monitor faculty social networking postings but university officials were concerned and saw the postings as a threat and wanted to make sure students and faculty were safe.
It's been one week since East Stroudsburg University Professor Gloria Gadsden has been suspended for posting messages on her Facebook page.
University officials said the comments were threatening and they had to take action.
Gadsden has been an associate professor of sociology at East Stroudsburg University for the past five years.
She said she recently joined the popular social networking site called Facebook but two messages she said she posted on her page caused her to be suspended from the campus.
"They found two posts, linked them together and are suggesting I was a threat. I told them I was venting. They're family friends and it's a private page," Gadsden said.
On January 21 Gadsden wrote, "Does anyone know where I can find a very discrete hitman? Yeah, it's been that kind of day."
Then in February she posted, "Had a good day today, didn't want to kill even one student. Now Friday was a different story."
"I had had a really bad day on Friday and then Monday went well and I was excited that is went really well," the suspended professor said. "It was not intended to threaten a particular person, not directed to any student. Sometimes teaching is hard and exhausting work. Sometimes we don't get support for that so we vent with family and friends and that's all it was."
That's not how East Stroudsburg University took it.
A spokesperson said last Wednesday they put Gadsden on paid administrative leave, pending a further investigation.
In the meantime, Gadsden said she's been receiving plenty of support from other professors across the country.
"I received quite a few letters from around the nation, from faculty, from others who also had been target because of Facebook comments," Gadsden added. "I don't think there's a definitive policy I violated so it would be nice if administration was clear about these things."
A spokesperson with the university said a student brought Dr. Gadsden's Facebook postings to their attention.
The university does not monitor faculty social networking postings but university officials were concerned and saw the postings as a threat and wanted to make sure students and faculty were safe.
