Christian university suspends professor for controversial remarks about Black Lives Matter

A Christian university in Phoenix, Arizona has suspended a professor for his controversial remarks about some members of the Black Lives Matter movement nearly a year ago.

Professor Toby Jennings, a theology professor at Grand Canyon University (GCU), drew controversy recently after the school posted a link to a video of a theology conference back in September 2016 when he stated that some members of Black Lives Matter "should be hung."

During the forum, Jennings was asked by an audience member what he thought about the Black Lives Matter movement. The professor responded by explaining that while some activists in the group work for good, there are some who do not.

"You have folks that participate in it on one side that are very thoughtful about the matter and then on the other side, you have people on the opposite side of that who frankly should be hung and I did say that on video.. they are saying things that are not helpful in any shape or form or human dignity or flourishing," Jennings said at the time.

His remarks drew audible gasps from the audience, and he was reportedly given a verbal warning right after the lecture.

After the video received tremendous backlash, GCU's College of Theology told Jennings that his comments were offensive, but the matter was not brought up with the school's top executives.

The African-American professor has since issued an apology for his remarks, but he was placed on administrative leave after NAACP and Black Lives Matter leaders contacted school officials last week, The Washington Times reported. The university said in a statement that the professor will remain suspended until at least the end of the first semester.

However, some members of Black Lives Matter in Phoenix said that Jennings' suspension was not enough. "My heart is broken, not because GCU is our enemy, but they claim to be our brothers and sisters. Brothers and sisters please stop avoiding talking about ways racism.. makes us uncomfortable," said Pastor Warren Stewart, Jr.

The president of the university, Brian Mueller, said that he values the contributions of the movement, but he maintained that the incident involving Jennings "does not represent who our faculty is and it does not represent who our students are."

The university stated that it will continue to investigate the incident to find out why the matter was not brought to the attention of the university's executives sooner. The school also stated that it will interview students and guests who attended the forum, as well as those who attended Jennings' classes, to "gain their perspective" on the professor.