This is the face of the Republican Party.

Hi .

Stephens has a point on civility and accountability for our words. Let's keep debate intellectual and substantive. Calling a human being a bedbug is definitely wrong and it's absolutely okay to have to face it.
That being said, Stephens' writing is absolutely open for a critique, too. He deserves to be challenged, this is just no way to do it. The professor can call it an abuse of power but I look at it as an invitation to being on Stephens' level in his field. Step up to the opportunity!

He tends to write pretty lightweight, poorly researched columns about things that I know something about,' Karpf said. 'So I’ve always seen him as this person that everyone complains about but we just can’t get rid of. He’s a bedbug.'

People have way too much time on their hands. That this is a news story speaks to our maturity. It's like two third graders were permitted to put their conflict in the school paper.
It looks like you put more research into finding the professor's and provost's emails than you put into your columns.
You seriously can't make this stuff up. Stephens, you are a grade "A" hypocrite, and a thin skinned, snowflake, cry baby bully.

On the one hand, no need to tattle tale to someone’s boss for such an innocuous joke of a tweet. But on the other, professor, why the ad hominem attack? “Bedbug” is hardly egregious, but it could just have easily been Stephens is a ” We on the left have to get this discourse under control. We have to refocus on the issues and stop hating on the people.