Seton Hill severs ties with adjunct professor over Facebook posts, which he denies

Seton Hill University has parted ways with an adjunct professor after posts were made on his Facebook page referencing violence in relation to the Wednesday siege by supporters of President Trump at the U.S. Capitol.

Gary Hypes claimed he did not write the posts, suggesting someone else might have used or hacked into his account. The page was taken down Friday afternoon.

“I didn’t make them,” Hypes said.

As of Friday, he was no longer a faculty member at the Greensburg university, according to a statement President Mary Finger sent to the university community.

“The safety and well-being of the Seton Hill campus community is paramount,” Finger wrote. “The university does not condone — and will not tolerate — speech or actions that incite, condone and promote violence.”

University officials declined to comment further, including about how they investigated the matter.

Hypes said he hasn’t decided whether he will take action against the university.

The Tribune-Review obtained screenshots of the posts, some of which said: “War is coming!” and “Finally, just maybe we will have the bloodshed that is needed to fix this country.”

Hypes resigned from a full-time position as associate professor at Seton Hill in August and took a similar job at Bethany College in West Virginia in the business and accounting fields. A spokeswoman at the college could not be reached Friday.

“I’m flabbergasted,” he said.

Screenshots of November posts on the same Facebook page indicate support for Trump. Those messages said: “Who else believes blood is going to flow in the coming weeks” and “The media is a joke! If this situation comes to violence, these people/organizations will have blood on their hands and hopefully will answer for the damage they are causing this country.”

When asked about the November posts, Hypes said he didn’t write anything about violence toward others. He claimed that someone else might have written them.

”I make posts just like everybody else” but never about violence, he said. “I have to take a look at my posts to tell you yes or no on what I said.”

In his profile on the university’s website, which has since been removed, Hypes said he has been working in higher education for more than 10 years, mostly in accounting and business, though he has a law degree from West Virginia University.

He earned a master’s in business administration from the University of Phoenix in 2014 and planned to work on a doctorate in accounting, according to the profile. He had been at Seton Hill since 2013.