ORLANDO, Fla. _ The former University of Tampa instructor whose tweet about Hurricane Harvey sparked online outrage resigned Thursday rather than being fired and said he does not plan to pursue legal action against the school.
"Their focus and my focus primarily has been the safety of the students and, at the end of the day, that's what matters here," said Ken Storey of Winter Park, who taught sociology at UT.
On Sunday, Storey posted on Twitter that the storm was "instant karma" for Texans who supported Republicans. After the tweet went viral, Storey deleted it and apologized. UT issued a statement Tuesday indicating he had been "relieved of his duties," before releasing an update Thursday to say he had resigned.
In between, some advocacy organizations criticized his firing as a failure of due process and an attack on political speech. Storey on Thursday said his tweet was "extremely wrong," but the vitriol directed at him and the university since has been "out of proportion."
Storey declined to detail his discussions with the university.
