The social media rantings of Randa Jarrar are rude but they are protected

What follows are screenshots of the tweets of Fresno State Professor Randa Jarrar.  I cannot embed them in this blog because she has made her account private in the wake of the tremendous backlash her comments generated.

A lot of people are calling for Fresno State to fire her over these tweets.  While rude and repugnant, they still seem to be to be protected free speech and the government cannot infringe upon her right to make such remarks.

But then there was this tweet.

That number she gave out in her tweet is the number for a 24-hour crisis line in Arizona.  Part of the Arizona State University system.  Freedom of speech doesn't allow you to cause a crisis hotline to be inundated with phone calls in this way.

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The fact that government cannot infringe upon freedom of speech does not prevent private citizens from imposing consequences against those who say outrageous things.  

Big donors are saying that they may withhold financial support from the school.  If I were a donor to Fresno State that would be my position.  I respect this woman's right to free speech, but I also have the right to determine how I choose to donate my money.  I wouldn't donate money to a university that employs a professor who cannot refrain from speaking ill of the dead in the immediate aftermath of their passing.