OU investigates after professor uses racial slur in class

Peter Gade

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — The University of Oklahoma is looking into an incident in which a journalism professor used a racial slur during a class.

According to a statement from OU President Joseph Harroz Jr., the professor used the slur while arguing that it was equally offensive as the term “Boomer.”

The professor, Peter Gade, is the director of graduate studies at OU’s Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Harroz says that while Gade’s comments are protected by the First Amendment and academic freedom, he says the comment was “fundamentally offensive and wrong.”

Gade didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.