Lecturer Deactivates Controversial Quora Account

Lecturer Deactivates Controversial Quora Account

It’s almost like actions have consequences

Luke Schneider, the University of Canterbury Chemical Engineering lecturer who posted controversial comments on Quora, has deactivated his account.

Critic first reported on the story when one of Schneider’s students said that his comments displayed “a lack of empathy” and that “it is clear that Luke is the problem, but there should be equal blame put on the department for not standing against his behaviour”.

The comments included Schneider implying that beneficiaries should commit suicide and describing how he would “shoot to kill” in a riot.

On August 20, one week after the story was published, Schneider had deleted almost half of his answers on Quora, leaving only 354. At that point, the site no longer listed the University of Canterbury as his employer.

By August 26, his account was completely deactivated.

After the comments were brought to the University’s attention, Chemical Engineering students received an email stating that: “The University has been made aware of comments from an academic staff member in an online forum recently. The matter is being taken seriously and is being looked into.”

“The staff member we brought it to seems to be taking it seriously however I’m not sure what they could do to ‘remedy’ the situation, and I’m not sure what they actually are doing as all they've sent us is that one flaky email,” said Alicia*, a Chemical Engineering student. “From their response it's hard to tell if they're following proper channels to ensure fairness to everyone involved, or if they're trying to protect their own image or both.”

Stuff reported that “Schneider’s comments appear to have met the criteria for serious misconduct in the university’s code of conduct for staff, seen by Stuff, in terms of discriminatory behaviour.” Newshub also reported that he was under investigation by the University of Canterbury.

Schneider did not respond to Critic’s request for comment on why he deactivated his account.

“The University of Canterbury is aware of comments made by an academic staff member in an online forum recently. The opinions expressed do not represent those of the University of Canterbury. The University is looking into the matter and has nothing further to add at this time,” said a spokesperson from the University of Canterbury.

This article first appeared in Issue 17, 2020.
Posted 10:21pm Thursday 3rd September 2020 by Erin Gourley.