--- description: Drexel University reprimanded a professor after he reportedly tweeted apparent support for "white genocide" on Christmas Eve title: A Professor Tweeted That He Wants 'White Genocide' for Christmas image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt640f8fc7ecb27e0b/6988b4002dce01d6439ebcde/drexel-institute.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Education](/tag/education/) ## Education Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Drexel Professor Tweeted That He Wants 'White Genocide' for Christmas  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 26, 2016 7:35 PM CUT  Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 30, 2007. Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 30, 2007.Virginia Sherwood—NBC NewsWire/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 26, 2016 7:35 PM CUT Drexel University reprimanded a professor after he reportedly tweeted apparent support for “white genocide” on Christmas Eve. “All I Want for Christmas is White Genocide,” associate professor of politics and global studies George Ciccariello-Maher tweeted on Saturday, [the Philadelphia _Inquirer_ reports](http://www.philly.com/philly/news/Drexel-officials-Professor-George-Ciccariello-Mahers-White-Genocide-tweet-was-utterly-reprehensible.html "undefined"). The following day he tweeted, “To clarify: when the whites were massacred during the Haitian revolution, that was a good thing indeed.” On Sunday, Drexel issued [a statement](http://drexel.edu/now/archive/2016/December/Drexel-response-Ciccariello-Maher/ "undefined") saying: “While the University recognizes the right of its faculty to freely express their thoughts and opinions in public debate, Professor Ciccariello-Maher’s comments are utterly reprehensible, deeply disturbing, and do not in any way reflect the values of the University. The University is taking this situation very seriously. We contacted Ciccariello-Maher today to arrange a meeting to discuss this matter in detail.” Ciccariello-Maher told the _Inquirer_ that his inflammatory tweet was meant in jest. “On Christmas Eve, I sent a satirical tweet about an imaginary concept, ‘white genocide,’” he told the newspaper. “For those who haven’t bothered to do their research, ‘white genocide’ is an idea invented by white supremacists and used to denounce everything from interracial relationships to multicultural policies … It is a figment of the racist imagination, it should be mocked, and I’m glad to have mocked it.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4618146/drexel-professor-white-genocide-tweet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4618146/drexel-professor-white-genocide-tweet/"},"headline":"A Drexel Professor Tweeted That He Wants 'White Genocide' for Christmas","datePublished":"2016-12-26T19:35:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:28:14.526Z","description":"He later said he meant it as satire","url":"https://time.com/4618146/drexel-professor-white-genocide-tweet/","keywords":["Education","Pennsylvania","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt640f8fc7ecb27e0b/6988b4002dce01d6439ebcde/drexel-institute.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt640f8fc7ecb27e0b/6988b4002dce01d6439ebcde/drexel-institute.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"NBC News -- Democratic Presidential Candidates Debate","caption":"NBC News -- Democratic Presidential Candidates Debate","creditText":"Virginia Sherwood—NBC NewsWire/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/education/","name":"Education"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4618146/drexel-professor-white-genocide-tweet/","name":"A Drexel Professor Tweeted That He Wants 'White Genocide' for Christmas"}}]}] ```