Gabrielle Russon
Controversial University of Central Florida Professor Charles Negy was under investigation — and then cleared — for comments he made in class about Black men’s penises. The investigation was happening at the same time Negy won a significant legal victory in federal court against the school in his ongoing lawsuit.
An anonymous person filed a complaint this Spring that said Nagy made a comment implying Black men have large penises as an example of a positive stereotype.
“It was deeply inappropriate and made me profoundly uncomfortable,” the person wrote in the complaint in April that UCF recently released following a Florida Politics records request.
But ultimately, the school’s psychology chair, Florian Jentsch, found Negy’s comments were “relevant to the class and fell within his academic freedom for the subject he was teaching,” school records said.
The school took no action and suggested the person who complained could see a counselor or go to the ombudsman for additional help.
Negy, who has taught psychology at UCF since 1998, is paid $120,316 annually, according to the school.
When reached for comment, Negy took issue with the fact that UCF allows for anonymous complaints, arguing the process invites “frivolous complaints.”
He also denied he had been laughing or telling a joke, saying the discussion about Black men’s penises fit into a larger, serious debate.
“The purpose of addressing positive stereotypes in class is because most students have the incorrect view that group stereotypes always reflect something negative about the group. I want them to understand society also has positive group stereotypes that equally may (or may not) be unfounded,” Negy wrote in an email. “Surely you know that that stereotype about Black men is highly common in popular U.S. culture, which makes you wonder how an adult college student would be so traumatized over hearing it discussed briefly and with context in a university course?”
Negy has a history at UCF of making remarks that some people find offensive.
In 2020, as Black Lives Matter protests unfolded, Negy’s comments went viral on social media, saying that Blacks have privilege and aren’t discriminated against in the United States. #UCFfirehim began trending on Twitter. UCF condemned Negy’s statement.
Under pressure from the backlash, UCF began investigating Negy and accused him of creating a hostile class environment.
The school fired the longtime psychology professor, but his termination was short-lived since an arbitrator ruled Negy could get his job back.
Then Negy fought back.
Negy filed a federal lawsuit in 2023 over claims that UCF violated his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Negy said he was prosecuted for his views and suffered financially and emotionally when he temporarily lost his job.
U.S. District Judge Carlos Mendoza wrote “a reasonable jury … could find that Defendants’ motives were entirely unlawful” in firing Negy.
“There is evidence showing they were motivated by their distaste for Plaintiff and his views, along with public pressure. But in the words of Noam Chomsky: ‘If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all,’” Mendoza wrote in his order in May. “This could be one of those ‘rarest of cases where reasonable government officials truly know that the termination . . . of a public employee violated ‘clearly established’ federal rights.”
In his ruling, Mendoza denied summary judgment to UCF President Alexander Cartwright, Provost Michael Johnson and then interim College of Sciences Dean Tosha Dupras. The Judge ruled in favor of UCF Chief DEI Officer Kent Butler over Negy and was split on Office of Institutional Equity Director Nancy Myers.
“That means the court found there was enough evidence for a jury to decide whether Dr. Negy was actually fired in retaliation for his constitutionally protected speech rather than for alleged classroom misconduct. Importantly, the court denied qualified immunity to four of the five individual defendants, meaning they could potentially be held personally liable,” according to Negy’s lawyer, Samantha Harris. “Those defendants have appealed that decision to the Eleventh Circuit.”
The 11th Circuit warned it might not have jurisdiction, which could send Negy’s civil lawsuit back to the lower court for trial, said Harris, who called Mendoza’s ruling “very, very significant” for Negy, who she said is simply standing up for his rights.
UCF declined to comment for this story.
Harris defended Negy amid his lawsuit and the newest complaint about his discussion of stereotypes.
“Look, he teaches a cross-cultural psychology class,” Harris said. “I deal with so many faculty members whose courses touch on sensitive subject matters, and with students today, that can really be a minefield.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis and state leaders are making higher education a battleground to fight against “woke” professors. A conservative professor like Negy could be someone Republicans want to protect (although adding to the nuances, Negy is also gay and Hispanic).
Harris said of UCF, “Because of this lawsuit, their actions around the First Amendment and academic freedom are under a tremendous amount of scrutiny right now.
