A Hampshire principal caught up in a Twitter row in which BBC presenter Jeremy Clarkson was labelled a c*** has called off his move to become a chief executive.
Anthony Bravo (pictured above) was signed up to leave Basingstoke College of Technology (BCoT) for the job at Bradford College Group but, less than a fortnight after apologising on the social media website for retweeting the offensive message, he has now “withdrawn his application”.
Mr Bravo, who was due to start at the 25,000-learner Bradford college in September, declined to comment on his retweet, which he followed with a further tweet saying a complaint had been made to Bradford and BCoT and that “if people don’t like it they should unfollow”. The tweet was also later deleted, before tweeting his apology (pictured). However, he said his decision to pull out of the move, announced by Bradford College on April 11, was down to “the potential impact on my family”.
Bradford College said the retweet had no bearing on Mr Bravo not moving to the new role and his current employers at BCoT said he would be staying on with them, but a social media and FE sector expert has nevertheless called for colleges to adopt Twitter policies to protect their reputations.
Mr Bravo returned from a month long trip to China to create links between Basingstoke, which has around 11,000 learners, and Chinese colleges at the beginning of the month. He said: “While I was away I had time to reflect on the decision and the potential impact on my family and felt the distance would be too disruptive. There are lots of exciting projects underway at BCoT, especially new relationships with colleagues in China that I look forward to developing.”
A BCoT spokesperson said: “The governors welcome the decision and look forward to supporting Anthony in continuing our growth and quality improvement strategy.”
A spokesperson for Bradford College said: “Having reflected on his domestic circumstances, Anthony Bravo has decided to withdraw his application for the post of group chief executive. We wish Anthony every success for the future.”
Social media expert Ruth Sparkes, director of education PR company EMPRA, said: “This is a reminder as to why colleges should have a social media policy, and a strategy that is understood by everyone in the organisation. Reputations can be won and lost in a single tweet.”
Bradford College is expected to re-advertise the chief executive role — the fourth time it has done so since the beginning of the year, when current chief executive and president of the Association of Colleges Michelle Sutton said she would be stepping down.
Editorial
It’s no word game
The brief history of Twitter is already littered with ill-judged postings.
It’s a history that now counts avid tweeter Anthony Bravo among its victims, regardless of why his move to Bradford is off.
He has walked a fine line with tweets from China — while ‘on duty’ as a college principal — that some may see as silly, fun, or even welcome proof of a human face in a usually out-of-reach position of authority.
Meanwhile, others may think they cast too unprofessional a shadow on the college, and even the sector.
But there’s no doubt his public use, albeit retweeted, of such an offensive word was something exceptional.
Mr Bravo is a popular and friendly figure so it’s easy to believe his apology (printed on the front page) was sincere.
If only he hadn’t had to issue it in the first place.
Chris Henwood, editor
[…] http://feweek.co.uk/2014/05/16/twitter-row-principal-calls-off-ceo-move/ […]
If this is the real reason for his withdrawal, how very upsetting. I feel the real concern here is that people have a problem with a public figure supporting anti-racism (even if it is with strong language). It makes me slightly uneasy that you are not addressing the bigger problem that we are clearly facing in the educational sector and society as a whole. A black principal should have every right to publicise his support against racism. Supporting anti-racism should be praised rather than punishable. Very disappointing news.
I’m afraid i don’t agree with the first comment. He rightly deserves to put under the spotlight for this just as Jeremy Clarkson has. Of course he has the right to show his support against racism but his response was disgraceful. Principals are there to lead institutions and set an example for its students. What kind of a example has this set for 16 year olds? His response has done nothing but lowered himself to the same level.
This is really tabloid, speculative, gossip. I’m really disappointed in FE Week, who seem to have added two and two and come out with 5. And for someone to have then made a decision to include a completely unnecessary editorial to add fuel to a flame you’ve invented yourself, again is disappointing. Principals, like the rest of us, have every right to make mistakes on twitter (although I disagree that he actually did anything wrong). The best leaders are human beings. Choosing then to run a front-page news story has probably done more harm to FE than the incident itself.
There’s enough to report on in FE at the moment without resorting to sensationalist gossip and inventing your own stories. A real shame given the quality of FE Week’s work previously.
It’s ironic that a justifiable criticism of the racism shown yet again by Jeremy Clarkson was responded to with language that is just as derogatory. However, at least Anthony Bravo has the humility to step down – unlike Clarkson.