A Wake Forest University professor has resigned in response to social media posts that justified Hamas’ brutal terror attack against participants of a civilian music festival on October 7. She has been identified as Laura Mullen.

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Who is Laura Mullen?

Laura Mullen holds the Kenan Chair of the Humanities, and English & Creative Writing at Wake Forest University, and has resigned for personal reasons. Her plans to stay on as a professor until the conclusion of the semester have been verified by the university. 

Mullen was criticized for saying on X that she “could be tempted to shoot up your dance party,” showing sympathy for the Hamas terrorists who carried out the horrific massacre at a festival in southern Israel on October 7 that left hundreds of people dead. This led to Mullen’s decision.

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Her comments were initially characterized by Mullen as “raw, direct, [and] poetic, in that it involved imagery.” A week later, though, she removed the post, claiming the university had told her it “may be making things harder on the Muslim population,” as The Wake Report wrote.

As a matter of principle, the institution upheld “the right to individual freedom of expression” in a statement released on October 17. However, they “do not condone or support the views expressed in these posts.” Mullen, however, was not satisfied, saying that Wake Forest had left her “out to the wolves” in their handling of the matter.

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Mullen says, “[The University statement] is similar to watching wildlife documentaries where the isolated gazelle ends up getting eaten. They left me much on my own.”

In recent weeks, college campuses have emerged as major hubs for the discussion surrounding the Israel-Hamas conflict. There have been reports of incidents at New York University and around the city where students were seen on camera demolishing posters that showed kidnapped Israeli hostages.