And while 800 people supported a petition to fire him, more than 2,000 backed him with their signatures, including top academics such as Harvard’s Steven Pinker, as well as MSU professors who said there is “zero concrete evidence that Hsu has performed his duties as VP in an unfair or biased manner.”

“Therefore, removing Hsu from his post as VP would be to capitulate to rumor and character assassination,” the petition said.