A white male professor was fired from his position at the University of New Hampshire after it was discovered he covertly sent tweets from an account posing to be a woman of color.

According to The Daily Beast, Craig Chapman, a former assistant professor of chemistry at the school, masqueraded digitally as “The Science Femme,” a self-described scholar of color who allegedly helped her department write a statement opposing institutionalized racism following the murder of George Floyd on May 25.

Earlier this year, tweets were sent from the account @piney_the, aka The Science Femme, bragging about receiving critiques regarding the statement being crafted by department heads in response to civil unrest, Fosters.com reports.

“Here it is: I was successful in killing my dept’s woke statement on recent social unrest. This took several weeks and may have permanently burned some bridges, but I think it’s important. It is a toxic ideology that cannot be given an inch. Here are the lessons I learned,” the tweet read.

“I was successful in removing all woke terminology from the statement including anti-racism, white supremacy, white privilege, and claims of systemic racism. Before attempting a similar feat, it’s important to make sure you know what all these terms really mean,” a subsequent tweet thread continued.

In February, the account responded to former California Congresswoman Katie Hill’s leaked censored nude photos that caused Hill's resignation from Congress in October 2019.

“You should know, you’ve had plenty caught on camera,” @piney_the wrote under one of the leaked images, per Fosters.com.

According to The Daily Beast, Twitter users accused the account of berating people of color in September to which the account responded: “You know I’m a woman of color, right? Racist.”

Details from tweets teased personal details that hinted at Chapman. Curious minds pieced together clues that tied the faux account with Chapman’s personal page, including a shared love of Chicago sports teams and New Jersey origins.

#BurnerAccount
Craig Chapman, a white male professor from the Univ of New Hampshire, ON LEAVE, after twitter sleuths bust him for pretending to be a woman of color while tweeting under the handle @piney_the to rail against the left, transgender and even people of color.@CBS46
pic.twitter.com/0DVP7XhS7z

— shon gables cbs46 (@shongables) October 6, 2020

Chapman’s colleague Susanna Harris, a microbiology doctor working in science communications, discovered the truth about the account in July.

“I did a little bit of poking around to see if there was any chance this was a real person,” Harris recalled. “I’ve been on Twitter for a while and nothing about their account said anything to make me think this is a genuine account.”

The University of New Hampshire said that it has launched an investigation into the matter this week.

“UNH was recently made aware of allegations on social media about a member of its faculty,” a spokesperson told The Daily Beast. “We are deeply troubled by what we’ve learned so far and immediately launched an investigation. The employee at the center of allegations on social media is on leave and not in the classroom. In order to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation the university is unable to comment further.”

In an internal email obtained by The Daily Beast, chemistry department chair Glen Miller acknowledged Chapman as the culprit responsible for the account but also said he wasn’t giving up on Chapman’s professional career.

“The fake twitter account was in fact set up and run by Craig,” the email read. “There were a large number of things written by Craig that ranged from unfortunate to hurtful to deeply offensive. These statements do not represent me, nor the collegial, collaborative, accepting department in which I have had the privilege to work for the past 25 years."

"Everyone is entitled to their opinion, of course, but when those opinions are dismissive or hurtful or harmful to others, it is not ok with me. I reject those statements and their intent, wholeheartedly. But even so, I do not reject Craig. I am not giving up on Craig,” the email continued.

In a now-deleted post Miller made earlier this week, he condemned the actions of the professor he believes was posting on Twitter as “The Science Femme,” but praised the collaborative and accepting nature of the department, Fosters.com reports.

“As a Department, we wholeheartedly reject any statements or actions which seek to minimize, dismiss, hurt or harm others. That is not us. That is not what we stand for. That is not who we are. Nor will it ever be,” Miller wrote.

Students on the school’s campus have since protested against the professor’s antics. Demonstrators marched on campus last week with signs exclaiming, “Craig Chapman does not speak for us.”

Craig-Chapman

Get relevant content delivered to you once a week