Maine professor removed after mocking student’s Christian faith, Second Amendment essay

A Maine community college professor has been removed from teaching a summer class, and state lawmakers are calling for her resignation after she allegedly mocked a student’s Christian faith and disparaged her for writing an essay about the Second Amendment.

Nearly 50 Republican lawmakers are calling for Dr. Carol Lewandowski, a professor at Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor, to be fired for her actions.

“Attempts to intimidate and silence students – especially based on religious status, ideology, and political affiliation – are completely unacceptable and run counter to the goals of higher education,” says a letter signed by the lawmakers earlier this month.

“Moreover, we are profoundly concerned by the professor’s flippant mockery of the student’s Christian faith, and we will do everything in our power to defend the right to worship everywhere in Maine – including on our college campuses.” 

The student, Katherine Parker, shared with local radio hosts the feedback she’d received on her essay, The Maine Wire reported. 

Lewandowski told her to “avoid proselytizing with logical fallacies in a college class,” and asked, “Wasn’t your former speech a testimony to finding Jesus. [sic] Did Jesus pack heat?” 

Her further comments included expressing exhaustion with “this 2nd amendment nonsense,” and a recommendation to find a different topic. “I find this … not one I can easily grade, given my own disdain for the misinterpretations of the Second Amendment. 

“Hate to tell ya, but guns DO kill,” she added. “You and your ilk drive me nuts with your hypocrisy.” 

Parker met with the school’s academic dean after receiving the feedback but was skeptical that any disciplinary action would be taken. She also said the class “was highly disorganized and that students were often unsure about both the details of assignments and Lewandowski’s grading scheme,” Maine Wire reported. 

The college responded by replacing Lewandowski with another professor for the remainder of her summer term’s Oral Communications class. 

Lewandoski is still listed in the school’s staff directory. A college spokesperson said it is “taking appropriate steps as required by law and collective bargaining agreement” to address the situation, News Center Maine reported. 

Lewandowski also generated controversy when she canceled a class Zoom session the day after Donald Trump won reelection in 2024 because she was too upset to teach or even “communicate in any way, shape, or form,” The Maine Wire reported. 

She later addressed accusations that the cancellation was unprofessional by saying “this election was like a death in the family.” 

“I care about my country as much as I care about my family,” she wrote in an email to students. “If you cannot respect my depression, despair, and general disgust, I think you are limited in your scope of ‘professionalism.’ I was grieving for our country. And I still am.”