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https://nypost.com/2023/05/25/cunys-hiring-process-under-scrutiny-after-arrest-of-radical-ex-prof-shellyne-rodriguez-who-attacked-new-york-post-reporter/

CUNY’s hiring process under scrutiny after arrest of ‘radical’ ex-prof
Shellyne Rodriguez who attacked Post reporter

By Carl Campanile, Zach Williams and Emily Crane
May 25, 2023 8:14pm Updated
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Taxpayer-funded CUNY is facing calls to crack down on its vetting of
adjuncts after since-fired professor Shellyne Rodriguez — who proudly
displays anti-cop tattoos — was arrested Thursday for holding a machete
to a Post reporter’s neck.

Rodriguez, who has “FTP” (for “f–k the police”) inked on her fingers,
flashed a brazen smile after she was slapped with harassment and
menacing charges and escorted out of the NYPD’s 43rd Precinct in The
Bronx in handcuffs.

The 45-year-old artist and community organizer — who had gone viral for
cursing out pro-life students at CUNY’s Hunter College in the lead-up to
Tuesday’s machete saga — was promptly fired by the school.

Now, some are questioning how someone like Rodriguez – a self-described
“black Marxist” who has helped organize “FTP” protests that led to mass
arrests — even ended up teaching at the public college in the first place.

“This is so beyond, beyond,” former CUNY trustee Jeffrey Wiesenfeld told
The Post on Thursday, adding “there should be an inquiry of this
professors’ hiring.”

“CUNY has become a farce,” he continued, adding, “You have
revolutionaries and lunatics running the place.

“What you need is for the governor and mayor to create a commission to
clean up CUNY.”

Shellyne Rodriguez
Shellyne Rodriguez was arrested Thursday for holding a machete to a Post
reporter’s neck.
Robert Miller
The formal hiring process for adjunct professors at CUNY is lacking
because vetting is simply down to department heads – allowing for
someone like Rodriguez to be recruited, a source familiar with the
process said.

“The people doing the hirings are radicals and they seek out radicals,”
claimed the source, who is a department head at another CUNY campus.

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SUNY & CUNY profs and students need a course on free speech
Unlike full-time faculty positions where there is extensive vetting, the
source said adjunct professors are often just hired by a particular
department’s personnel and budget committee.

Almost all department chairs involved in recruitment are members of the
Professional Staff Congress, the union that represents CUNY professors
and adjuncts, according to the source, which described the group as
left-wing and radical.

“The union attracts lunatics both full-time and part-time,” the source said.

In the wake of the Rodriguez saga, New York Conservative Party Chairman
Gerard Kassar called on CUNY to take a new look at their hiring policies.

“It’s becoming more and more apparent that they, on the college level,
the professors should probably also go through a bit of a psychological
evaluation,” Kassar said.

“I don’t necessarily think you’re supposed to be examining them like you
examine a police officer … this might be the first time [with] a
machete, but it is not the first time we have heard about CUNY — and to
some degree SUNY — college professors being the person who is most
extreme in the classrooms.”

CUNY logo
CUNY is facing calls to reevaluate its hiring process following the arrest.
Christopher Sadowski
CUNY has 25 colleges across the five boroughs, while SUNY, the state
university system, is comprised of 64 institutions.

Councilman Bob Holden (D-Queens), who obtained his MFA from Hunter and
spent decades teaching at CUNY, said he hoped the hiring of “intolerant,
radical” individuals such as Rodriguez wasn’t part of a pattern.

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“People have to be vetted. People have to listen to both sides. And
people have to be tolerant,” he said.

Rodriguez “should have never been allowed to work with students,” Holden
added. “I think the provost should examine her class observations and
student evaluations to see who dropped the ball in the department and
allowed this maniac in the classroom.”

Under CUNY’s current policies for hiring adjuncts, would-be professors
are required to sign an oath to the US Constitution during the
application process.

Before she was axed on Tuesday, Rodriguez had worked at Hunter College
as an adjunct arts professor since at least 2018, according to
SeeThroughNY. Her highest annual paycheck was $26,684, which she
received last year, according to the site.

CUNY’s four-year colleges, such as Hunter, gets a major chunk of their
funding from the state, while the city pitches in to back the network’s
community colleges.

“CUNY complies with all federal, city and state laws regarding hiring
practices,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

Shellyne Rodriguez
Before she was axed on Tuesday, Rodriguez had worked at Hunter College
as an adjunct arts professor since at least 2018, according to SeeThroughNY.
Tomas E.Gaston
In a statement, PSC President James Davis said the union “has a duty to
ensure that every worker that we represent is afforded the full
protections of their contractual due-process rights.

“The PSC does not condone violence, nor do we comment on members’
ongoing disciplinary proceedings. The union has not released or endorsed
any statement regarding any incidents involving Professor Shellyne
Rodriguez,” Davis said.

SEE ALSO

Only thing shocking about machete attack was a college actually firing a
woke professor
The mounting questions over the school’s vetting process came as
Rodriguez turned herself in Thursday morning over the caught-on-camera
ordeal involving the machete.

The ex-professor held her head high as she was later led out of the
Bronx precinct with her slew of tattoos on full display, including the
“FTP” inked on her fingers, as well as an image of brass knuckles and
the boxing term “southpaw” scrawled across her left hand.

She refused to answer questions as she was escorted to an NYPD vehicle,
but started grinning when The Post asked why she opted to pull the
machete in the first place.

A second-degree menacing charge in New York is a misdemeanor that can
bring up to a year in prison, while harassment in the second degree, a
violation, is punishable by up to 15 days.

The shocking chain of events that led to Rodriguez’s arrest unfolded
Tuesday when a veteran Post reporter knocked on the door of her Bronx
apartment to ask her about the May 2 footage of her cursing out Hunter
College pro-life students.

“Get the f–k away from my door, or I’m gonna chop you up with this
machete!” the manic art professor shouted from behind her closed door
just seconds before barging out with the blade.

139
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After the reporter and a photographer exited the building, dashcam video
captured Rodriguez — still armed with the machete — chasing them down
the street.

Rodriguez is currently embroiled in a legal saga with the NYPD over
allegations officers abused her when she was arrested in the Bronx
during a George Floyd protest in June 2020. The professor also helped
organize several violent “FTP” protests in the Bronx through 2020.

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OCret
25 May, 2023

Exactly what was her job? What did she do for 26k, which isn’t much of
an annual salary. Was she also paid under the table ?

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Brian White
25 May, 2023

If she was, it certainly wasn't the only thing that happened under the
table...

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George Black
25 May, 2023

As an adjunct she was paid by the course she taught. I don't know how
much each course pays at CUNY

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Here today gone to Maui
26 May, 2023

NYC where authorities assist and abet terrorism ?

The FBI defines terrorism, domestic or international, as the unlawful
use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or
coerce a Government or civilian population in furtherance of political
or social objectives.

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Jim Butler
26 May, 2023