Professor who called COVID-19 ‘Chinese Communist Party Virus’ is on leave at Syracuse

A chemistry professor at Syracuse University was put on administrative leave last week after students ousted him on social media for referring to the novel coronavirus as the “Wuhan Flu” and “Chinese Communist Party Virus” on his syllabus.

As of Monday night, 276 faculty and staff signed a statement to “express our solidarity and support to all Syracuse students, staff, and faculty from China and with Chinese heritage,” a guest column in the university’s student newspaper, The Daily Orange, said.

A complaint has been filed against Jon Zubieta with the Office of Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services, and he has been “removed from the classroom pending the outcome of a full investigation,” according to a joint statement from Karin Ruhlandt, dean of Syracuse’s College of Arts and Sciences and John Liu, interim vice chancellor and provost.

The Daily Orange reported that the university said it cannot comment on whether Zubieta is being paid while on leave.

“Jon Zubieta who is a ‘distinguished professor’ in Chemistry at Syracuse University for 17 years referred to COVID as the Wuhan Flu or Chinese Communist Party Virus in his syllabus,” student Zoe Selesi said in an Aug. 25 tweet that features screenshots of emails Zubieta sent to students where he calls the coronavirus the “CCP virus.”

”Sad to see students dismiss his actions and say, ‘it is what it is,’” Selesi said.

Selesi went on to tag Syracuse in her next tweet: “I hope you lot actually do something. The blatant xenophobia and racism that this man shows is very harmful. You guys are apparently committed to making this campus a safer and inclusive space for all students so let’s make sure something happens about this.”

Another student shared a screenshot on Instagram showing the “derogatory language” on Zubieta’s syllabus.

”Would be a shame if we all reported him to his superiors and wrote bias incident reports for engaging in racist behavior in the classroom,” graduate student Taylor Krzeminski wrote.

The terms “Wuhan virus” or “Chinese virus” or “Kung Flu” have been used before, most notably by President Donald Trump in attacks against Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus first emerged. The World Health Organization has warned several times that the terms fuel hate and stigma.

The university condemned “racism and xenophobia” and said it is “committed to being an anti-racist community.”

“The derogatory language used by a professor on his course syllabus is damaging to the learning environment for our students and offensive to Chinese, international and Asian-Americans everywhere who have experienced hate speech, rhetoric and actions since the pandemic began,” the joint statement read.

In their signed statement, Syracuse faculty and staff said they “strongly condemn any speech that aims to marginalize and demean the Chinese community on and off campus.

“We are deeply disturbed that a faculty colleague has engaged in such hateful statements that feed into the recent wave of Sinophobia (anti-Chinese sentiment),” they wrote. “Such statements do not, in any way, reflect the views and attitudes of the overwhelming majority of Syracuse University faculty, who stand united in fostering an inclusive campus climate during these trying times.”