Reed College professor will resign after online video prompted investigation

Published 12:00 am Thursday, December 1, 2022

A Portland college professor who was filmed berating fast food employees and inquiring about their immigration status earlier this year says he doesn’t remember the incident, blaming medication side effects for his behavior.

Reed College Psychology professor Paul Currie told Pamplin Media Group that he feels “shame and regret” over the remarks he made to employees in March, while waiting in his vehicle in a restaurant drive-through. Currie interrogated an employee, citing “rude behavior” and suggested the restaurant hired “illegal immigrants.” The neuroscience researcher and tenured professor said he was taking medication for insomnia.

“The incident in question stemmed from a well-documented side effect of a popular medication to treat acute insomnia — a long-standing medical condition,” Currie said in a provided statement. “The video did not show my decades-long commitment to students’ diversity and inclusivity, which dates to my time as a graduate student and then a postdoctoral fellow. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, helping students from marginalized groups is personal for me.”

Currie’s interaction with the food service worker was recorded on a cell phone and uploaded to the internet via a TikTok video, and circulated widely online, leading to public outcry, student protests and calls for his termination.

Currie is now set to resign from the college in January.

Stepping down

Reed College President Audrey Bilger announced in a message to faculty, staff and students Wednesday, Nov. 30, that Currie agreed to step down from his position at the liberal arts college in Southeast Portland, effective Jan. 6. President Bilger said the incident initially was investigated by Reed, but a committee determined Currie’s off-work behavior didn’t violate any college policies.

“Last spring, many community members expressed concerns, ones I shared, about a video circulated on social media that captured remarks made by a professor on leave from the college, Paul Currie,” Bilger stated. “Based on the content of the video, the incident led to calls for reconsideration of Professor Currie’s appointment, a position he held with indefinite tenure.

“Following the procedure outlined in college documents governing faculty employment, a faculty committee investigated the incident and found no violation of college policy. I have accepted the committee’s decision.

“After receiving the report, I discussed the committee’s findings with legal experts and with Professor Currie. As a result of these discussions, Professor Currie has resigned from his position.”

Currie, whose research work focused on neuroscience, joined Reed College in 2007 and eventually attained tenure. He was on an extended sabbatical from the college when the spring incident occurred.

“Over the last few months, I’ve been living with intense shame and regret from an event I — still to this day — do not remember. There is no excuse to ever engage in offensive or discriminatory behavior and I accept full responsibility for my actions,” Currie said, thanking the college’s investigations committee for concluding he didn’t violate any college policies.

Shortly after the college caught wind of the video of Currie, Kathy Oleson, Reed’s dean of faculty, said the college’s Committee on Advancement and Tenure would investigate “unprofessional conduct and discriminatory harassment.”

Oleson said she was shocked by the video, calling it “painful to watch and in no way reflective of what we hope for our community.”

One student said she found out about the video from a family member.

“My grandmother, of all people, sent me an article on Instagram and said, ‘Yikes!’ I opened it up and verified the identity, turned out it was actually (Currie) so I reposted it. It kind of went viral after that,” Reed freshman Esmée Silverman told the Portland Tribune in March.

Silverman, along with some of the college’s international students and other students, held a protest at the school, calling for Currie’s ouster.

“We’re protesting the college’s handling of Paul Currie and the blatant racism and xenophobia that Paul Currie expresses in this video,” Silverman said.