NYU Responds to Claims by James Franco's Professor - Exclusive

NYU is speaking out against allegations made by one of its former professors.

Jose Angel Santana recently filed a lawsuit against the university in an effort to get his job back. He claimed he was fired for giving James Franco a ‘D’ in his “Directing the Actor” class.

John Tintori, chair of Tisch’s graduate film program, just released a letter to students in response to the claims. JustJared.com exclusively obtained the statement before it was sent out on Thursday (December 22).

Click inside to read John Tintori’s statement…

“Dear Grad Film Students,

A number of you have recently come to me with questions arising from this week’s news. I thought it would be beneficial to bring a little clarity.

The most prominent allegation – that Jose Angel Santana was fired because of a grade he gave a student – is false. Professor Santana has not been fired; like other assistant arts professors, he had a three-year contract – which is still in force, and under which he is still being paid – and Tisch [School of the Arts] chose not to renew that contract. The non-renewal of his contract had nothing to do with any grade he assigned to any student, nor did it have anything to do with his ethnicity, which he also claims.

It is not appropriate for me to go into the details of the review that led to the school’s decision not to renew Professor Santana‘s contract; these are private personnel matters. But I do have a few additional thoughts I want to share.

Every student in the University is entitled to privacy regarding his or her academic records. Public disclosure of confidential student information by any faculty member is a violation of our community standards as well as the trust forged among teachers and learners in this department. I want to assure all students that the disregard for these standards is not representative of the Graduate Film faculty and will not be tolerated.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions or concerns.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday break.

Best wishes for a happy and productive New Year!

- John”