Former St. Joe’s prof homes in on student newspaper in lawsuit, says ‘Hawk’ article fueled firing

Attorneys for a former St. Joseph’s University professor who claims he was fired as part of a “cancel culture” storm in the racial aftermath of the George Floyd murder say the university’s student-run newspaper played a heavy role in orchestrating an environment in which he could be ousted.

In a Wednesday federal court filing, attorneys for Greg Manco said that through discovery and depositions, they are in possession of a voicemail by a student journalist who told an alumna that they would get Manco “f***ing fired” for his post on X that was dismissive of racial reparations.

While the actions at issue are serious, the individuals are young and not public figures. In trying to balance public accountability with fairness, we are opting not to publish their names in this article.

Manco had been a math professor at St. Joe’s for approximately fourteen years when, in the early part of 2021, he posted on X from a personal account. 

“Suppose your great-great-grandfather murdered someone,” he wrote on Feb. 17. “The victim’s great-great-grandson knocks on your door, shows you the newspaper clipping from 1905, and demands compensation from you. Your response? Now get this racist reparation bulls*** out of your head for good.”

Although Manco’s X account was personal, it wasn’t named after him, and in a sense was somewhat anonymous — although some of his posts had identified the author as a St. Joe’s math professor. Despite that, a small handful of social media accounts began recirculating the post while tagging the university’s social media accounts, and demanding that the university take some kind of action or institute punishment against Manco.

The university later suspended Manco from his classroom and announced an investigation.

A report by the student newspaper, The Hawk, is dated Feb. 23, 2021. The byline did not identify a specific author, but instead was attributed to “staff.”

Most importantly, the report noted that Manco published a follow-up post explaining the original, but the report then claimed that “Shortly after the [follow-up] thread was posted, Twitter users began harassing the students online and sending death threats. The threats have been ongoing since the initial thread was posted.”

Manco argues this paragraph defamed him.

The extraordinary claim did not come with any additional information or context, such as screenshots or links if the threats were made by X, whether the author had personally reviewed or seen evidence of those threats, how many students were receiving the threats, and if police had been contacted.

Broad + Liberty inquired with the university in early 2022 about this specific matter. In January 2022, sometime after Manco’s legal complaint was filed in court, this reporter asked the university “Can The Hawk provide some sourcing, by screenshot or by link, that shows or demonstrates that the death threats were aimed at a current student, and that they were ongoing?”

A university spokesperson declined to comment because of the pending lawsuit.

The Manco team has long alleged that one of the primary drivers of the complaints to the university was an alumna who had received a failing grade in one of Manco’s classes. In the new filing, they say she was in possession of a voicemail from a journalist at The Hawk in which the journalist said they would get Manco “f***ing fired.”

Manco’s attorneys are asking the court to allow deposition testimony of the journalist.

“Additionally, [the alumna] and [the journalist] knew each other for years, as they both worked at the Hawk and have had communications that long predate the Hawk newspaper article, as well as conversations that had nothing to do with said article,” the filing says. 

“Deposing [the journalist] will provide [Manco] with the complete picture of [the journalist’s] level of involvement in the publication of the February 23, 2021, Hawk article. Additionally, it will allow Plaintiff to determine the level of involvement and influence [the alumna] had on [the journalist] and the publication of the Hawk article.”

Manco and his attorneys had previously served a subpoena for deposition testimony on the journalist, which the judge quashed.

A spokesperson for the university declined to comment about the new accusations, saying, “The matter is before the court, and out of respect for the judicial process, Saint Joseph’s University will respond in that forum.”

After the university pulled Manco from his classroom in Feb. 2021, it concluded its investigation in June. The investigation did not have any material it could use to fire or discipline Manco, but left open the possibility that it had not discovered all it set out to.

“The potential outcomes of an investigation include a finding of more likely than not that a violation of policy occurred, a finding of more likely than not that a violation of policy did not occur, or no determination could be made. In this case, a definitive determination could not be made due to insufficient evidence,” Gail Benner, a communications officer with the university, said at the time.

Manco has further alleged that this statement to the press by the university was also defamatory, claiming that the university’s investigation cleared him in virtually every considerable regard. That claim appeared to be supported by evidence that surfaced in a later filing by Manco’s legal team.

Manco’s exit from the university was not as immediate or sudden as one might expect, given the contentious nature of the controversy. Originally, the university declined to renew his contract, but then rehired him as an adjunct. 

When Manco sued, the university fired him, arguing he violated student privacy measures when his lawsuit disclosed the failing grade of the alumna. Manco and his attorneys say this was a pretext for the university to do what it had wanted to do all along — fire him.

Manco’s suit is not just aimed at the university, but numerous individuals as well, including faculty members, and the alumna referenced in this article. The suit claims he was harmed through breach of contract, defamation, allegations of false light, civil conspiracy, and tortious interference.

An attorney for the alumna did not return a request for comment. The attorney for the student journalist declined to comment, but did provide copies of legal filings in support of the client. Manco also declined to comment.

Todd Shepherd is Broad + Liberty’s chief investigative reporter. Send him tips at tshepherd@broadandliberty.com, or use his encrypted email at shepherdreports@protonmail.com. @shepherdreports