Who is Professor Zack De Piero? Penn State racism scandal explained 

Zack De Piero, a former English professor at Pennsylvania State University, is suing the school for alleged racial discrimination. In an extensive lawsuit filed by the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism Zack De Piero, who is white, claimed that the university willfully targeted him and was made to feel less than his counterparts due to his ethnicity.

The lawsuit detailed various instances where the professor was allegedly discriminated against, including an occasion where he and fellow white faculty members were encouraged to participate in anti-racist workshops titled “White Teachers are the Problem.”

The lawsuit alleged that the university was hyper-focused on their professors delivering race-centric principles to students. The alleged principles were supposedly built on the narrative that white people have historically victimized people of color. Piero alleged that any variation from the race-based teaching would result in suspension.

The lawsuit also named Associate Professor at the university, Liliana Naydan, who allegedly championed the university’s view that purports the English language is racist. The university is accused of encouraging the professor to teach students the English language as an expression of “white supremacy.” Naydan has been working as an associate professor of English at the university for eight years.

Liliana Naydan (Image via LinkedIn).

The university allegedly argued that White supremacy was rooted in the English language, ergo it is racist. The lawsuit also accused the university of indoctrination, where white faculty members were forced to believe they were flawed due to their privileged history.

Piero said that when he complained about the universities discriminating treatment against white faculty, he was told that there was a prevalent problem with the White race and ordered to attend anti-racist workshops. He was also allegedly accused of having mental health issues.

Piero also claimed the university fostered a cult-like atmosphere where they appeared to ask staff to repent for their sin of being white. In an interview with Fox, he said:

“I think there is almost a religious, cult-like environment where you had this Original Sin. In this case, I’m White. I need to repent for that sin, I need to keep going to these [training sessions], keep doing the work… I think they were waging a psychological war campaign and they’re trying to break people. And they almost broke me. But they didn’t.”

In addition, the university allegedly coerced professors to grade students based on their race as the school believed that people of color couldn’t academically compete with white pupils. The lawsuit stated:

“Defendants’ bigotry manifests itself in low expectations. They do not expect Black or Hispanic students to achieve the same mastery of academic subject matters as other students and therefore insist that deficient performance must be excused.”

Piero, through the lawsuit, alleged that an equity administrator, Alina Wong, allegedly suggested during a breathing exercise that white staff hold their breath longer so they could experience what George Floyd endured in 2020. The lawsuit explained:

“De Piero and other faculty were thus singled out, caused to experience discomfort, and feel ‘the pain’ on the basis of their skin color.”

Pennsylvania State University is yet to respond to the allegations.

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Zack De Piero left the Pennsylvania State University in 2022

Zack De Piero, who was employed at the Pennsylvania State University as an Assistant Teaching Professor of English and Composition in 2018, left the job in 2022. Zack De Piero said that he decided to file the lawsuit after concerns about his daughter’s future propelled him to take affirmative action against the school’s biased attitude toward white staff. In an interview with Fox News, he recalled:

“I remember there was one night I was putting her to bed, sort of like wondering what she was going to be in life when all this was happening. And I remember thinking … if she wants to be a teacher, I don’t want her to ever have to enter this kind of work environment and be made to feel like [she’s] somehow professionally incompetent or morally inept simply because of the color of her skin.”

Per his Linkedin, before joining Penn State, Zack De Piero had amassed nearly seven years of teaching experience, having worked as an English professor in the California and Philadelphia area.

Zack De Piero (Image via LinkedIn).

Zack De Piero, who graduated with a Master's in English from Temple University in 2010, worked as a teaching assistant for years while he was working toward obtaining his PhD in Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies from UC Santa Barbara.

Shortly after obtaining his PhD in 2017, Zack De Piero worked as a lecturer in the Pennsylvania State University Critical Writing Program. Shortly after, he was hired as an assistant teaching professor of English and Composition at the university.

Piero currently works as an Assistant Professor of English at Northampton Community College in Pennsylvania.