<p>One piece of data that hasn’t been mentioned is that the “professor” was/is a “visiting assistant arts professor.” (Here’s link to his profile, which remains on the NYU site: [AngelSantana:</a> Tisch School of the Arts at NYU](<a href=“http://gradfilm.tisch.nyu.edu/object/AngelSantanaJ.html]AngelSantana:”>http://gradfilm.tisch.nyu.edu/object/AngelSantanaJ.html).)</p>
<p>I saw somewhere where NYU admitted to not having renewed the guy’s contract. Not bringing back a visiting professor is much different from firing a tenured track professor. People who are visiting faculty on short-term contracts can be cut loose for any number of reasons. Or no reason: They are not assured a job from year to year, as anyone who has ever taught on a contract well knows! The headline “NYU fires professor for giving big-time actor a ‘D’” has a nice ring to it, but it’s sensationalistic.</p>