One week after New Times reported on UM's contentious hire of former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar as an adjunct professor, the not-for-profit organization Accountable.US launched its campaign calling for Azar's ouster, citing to his ties to the Trump administration's family separation policy. Starting today, a truck carrying the anti-Azar message will drive around the university's Coral Gables campus.
"UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI: GREAT IS THE TRUTH?" the green-and-orange billboard reads. "There's Nothing GREAT about complicity. Live your values and DROP ALEX AZAR."
According to its website, Accountable.US is a nonprofit whose mission is to expose government corruption and corporate special interests.
The organization's president, Kyle Herrig, issued a statement via email announcing the billboard, saying Trump officials who had a hand in enacting "cruel and inhumane" immigration policies should not be awarded "cushy" teaching jobs at institutions like UM.
A mockup of the Accountable.US billboard to be driven around UM's campus in Coral Gables.
Image courtesy of Accountable.US
Earlier this month, the university announced that it had hired Azar as an adjunct professor at the Herbert Business School to teach classes during the fall semester, which begins Monday.
Students, staff, and faculty members expressed outrage at Azar's hiring because of his department's role in overseeing immigrant detainment facilities, including the Homestead detention center, where migrant children were held after being separated from their families at the border under the Trump administration.
New Times has contacted the university requesting comment. This post will be updated with the school's response.
