A University of Oregon employee who sparked a backlash by calling on Donald Trump’s voters to commit suicide has been suspended.
Leonard Serrato, the assistant director of Fraternity and Sorority Life at the school, was labeled “disgusting” by his employer after sharing an angry rant about the presidential election results on Instagram.
In the clip, Serrato said he was “done crying” and that his “anger has set in,” saying he was a “proud petty person” who went after Trump-supporting acquaintances.
“I say this in the most disrespectful way possible – I don’t care if you’re my family, I don’t care if you’re my friend, I don’t care if we’ve been friends all our lives – You can literally destroy yourself if you voted for Donald Trump,” he said.
‘If you think it’s a shame that your groceries are so expensive, look for a better-paying job. Do better in life. Get a damn education. Do something, because you’re fucking stupid and I hope you jump off that bridge.”
Leonard Serrato, associate director of Fraternity and Sorority Life at the University of Oregon, has been placed on administrative leave after making a shocking response to Donald Trump’s landslide victory in the presidential election
After Serrato’s video circulated widely on social media, the University of Oregon placed the employee on administrative leave and said it was “investigating” the clip.
“The University of Oregon finds the statements in the video abhorrent and inconsistent with our values or mission,” the school said in a statement.
‘We appreciate the conflict between his statements, his role in student life at the university and our institutional values. This individual has been placed on administrative leave.
‘We have opened an investigation and are assessing the matter in the context of university policy and the individual’s role as a public servant.
“We guided and asked the person and confirmed that the post is not available. As a public university, we take seriously our obligation to provide an environment that welcomes diversity of thought and respect, aligned with our educational mission.
“While we investigate this, we are providing support to concerned students and staff, including resources for mental and emotional health.”
The UO employee said: ‘If you hate that your groceries are so expensive, look for a better-paying job. Do better in life. Get a damn education. Do something because you’re fucking stupid
A university spokesperson previously downplayed Serrato’s tirade, saying it “appears the individual made the post on his own time, which is well within his rights.”
It was later revealed that Serrato had served prison time in connection with the hazing of an 18-year-old fraternity pledge at Fresno State University.
Serrato was a student in 2012 when he was involved in the alcohol-related death of Philip Dhanens.
Police said Serrato and others pushed Dhanens to drink dozens of shots. He had an alcohol level of 0.4 when he died.
Serrato was one of the people who bought the alcohol.
The 18-year-old had only been in college for two weeks when he took part in a drinking binge at an off-campus dorm.
Serrato’s attorney told ABC at the time that the incident “had a tremendous effect on a number of people, including Mr. Serrato and his family.”
The lawyer added: ‘[Serrato] is deeply remorseful that this young man died at such a young age from this type of tragedy and he accepts responsibility for his actions and we will move forward from here.”
Serrato has served prison time in connection with the hazing of an 18-year-old fraternity pledge at Fresno State University. He is pictured at his sentencing hearing in 2012
Philip Dhanens, pictured, died in 2012 after a fatal hazing incident for which Serrato was later jailed
Serrato was just one of many who spread questionable messages after Trump’s landslide election victory
Serrato went to work at Fresno State as an assistant advisor of fraternity and sorority life.
He subsequently became an anti-hazing activist and used his experience to give speeches at colleges across the country.
Serrato was far from the only one to express an incendiary response to Trump’s landslide election victory.
Laura Helmuth, the editor-in-chief of Scientific American, the nation’s oldest magazine, railed against Trump supporters in now-deleted social media posts, calling them fascists, racists and sexists.
“I apologize to the younger voters that my Gen X is so full of damn fascists,” Helmuth wrote on the social media site Bluesky.
She also wrote: “Solidarity for everyone whose meanest, stupidest and most intolerant high school classmates are celebrating their first results because they have to go to the moon and back.”
Helmuth then went after her own home state: “Every four years I remember why I left Indiana (where I grew up) and why I respect the people who stayed and tried to make it less racist and sexist.
“The moral arc of the universe will not bend itself.”