James Comey to Teach Ethical Leadership Course at College of William & Mary

Former FBI Director James B. Comey will co-teach a course on ethical leadership at his former college, Virginia’s William & Mary (W&M), starting in fall 2018.

Comey’s course will be taught primarily in the center’s classroom in Washington, D.C., with one session at the W&M School of Education in Williamsburg, Va., according to a statement from the college. The one-off session will be live-streamed to students in Washington, D.C.

The three-credit course will also be taught by Drew Stelljes, W&A’s executive assistant professor of education and assistant vice president for student leadership. During the course, Comey and Stelljes will conduct lectures and discussions, as well as administer online discussions and research papers.

In a Jan. 19 statement, Comey said he was “thrilled” about his new position.

“Ethical leaders lead by seeing above the short term, above the urgent or the partisan, and with a higher loyalty to lasting values, most importantly the truth,” he added. “Building and maintaining that kind of leadership, in both the private sector and government, is the challenge of our time. There is no better place to teach and learn about it than the W&M Washington Program.”

President Donald Trump unexpectedly fired Comey on May 9 last year, citing recommendations from the two top officials in the Department of Justice, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, based on his handling of the probe into Hillary Clinton’s e-mails. Many cite his role in the Clinton email scandal as a major contributing factor to the Democratic candidate’s defeat in the presidential campaign of 2016.

In August 2017, Comey was appointed by Howard University to serve as the Gwendolyn S. and Colbert I. King Endowed Chair in Public Policy for the 2017-2018 academic year. Dozens of students chose to protest his speech at the college’s 150th opening convocation, standing up and chanting statements including “James Comey is not our homie” and “get out James Comey, get out our home.”