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Dr. Jessica Krug, a white history professor at George Washington University, has resigned after spending years pretending she was a Black person and adopting an Afro-Caribbean identity. Krug admitted to misrepresenting her ethnicity in an essay posted to Medium earlier this month.
Krug’s resignation is effective immediately.
During her tenure at George Washington University, Krug taught courses on Latin American and African history.
“I have not only claimed these identities as my own when I had absolutely no right to do so,” she revealed in her post. “Intention never matters more than impact. To say that I clearly have been battling some unaddressed mental health demons for my entire life, as both an adult and child, is obvious.
“Mental health issues likely explain why I assumed a false identity initially, as a youth, and why I continued and developed it for so long; the mental health professionals from whom I have been so belatedly seeking help assure me that this is a common response to some of the severe trauma that marked my early childhood and teen years.”
George Washington University confirmed the news of Krug’s resignation this week.
“Dr. Krug has resigned her position, effective immediately. Her classes for this semester will be taught by other faculty members, and students in those courses will receive additional information this week,” the university wrote in a statement.
The George Washington University was established 199 years ago on February 9, 1821, in Washington, D.C. The university includes 14 colleges and schools including the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, the Elliott School of International Affairs, the GW School of Business, the School of Media and Public Affairs, the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, the GW Law School and the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design.
The university offers 71-degree programs and has over 450 Greek student organizations.
