A white professor at a D.C. university who admitted to lying about being Black has resigned.
Jessica A. Krug resigned from her position at the history department at The George Washington University effective immediately, the university announced Wednesday.
The university earlier announced that Krug would not be teaching this semester while it reviewed the situation.
Update regarding Jessica Krug: Dr. Krug has resigned her position, effective immediately. Her classes for this semester will be taught by other faculty members, and students in those courses will receive additional information this week.
— GW University (@GWtweets) September 9, 2020
Faculty members of the university’s history department said in statement last week that they were “shocked and appalled” by Krug’s admission on Medium, where she penned her confession.
“With her conduct, Dr. Krug has raised questions about the veracity of her own research and teaching,” the statement said.
They called on her to resign. And, if she did not, they recommended rescinding her tenure and terminating her appointment.
Krug said that throughout her adult life, she assumed various identities, including claiming, “North African Blackness, then U.S.-rooted Blackness, then Caribbean-rooted Bronx Blackness.” But she was, in fact, a white Jewish woman from suburban Kansas City.
Krug also said that she had been battling some “unaddressed mental health demons,” but said that these do not explain, justify, condone or excuse what she had done.
