Staff Report
Popular UNM history professor Richard Berthold announced his plans to retire in a statement Monday.
Berthold stated "constant harassment by persons in authority at the University" as the reason for his retirement.
Berthold said in a statement that he would like to continue teaching but that his retirement will take effect at the end of this semester. He added that he will miss the students and the teaching, but not the University.
He also stated that since his comments about Sept. 11 last year, University officials "are constantly finding fault with my performance and accusing me of misconduct on the basis of arguments the average American would find entirely laughable."
Berthold, who has taught at UNM for more than 30 years, came under fire last year after the Sept. 11 attacks when he told one of his classes that "anybody who can blow up the Pentagon has my vote."
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Berthold had hinted toward retirement in an interview with the Daily Lobo Sept. 11, 2002.
"I just don't have the energy to deal with this crap anymore, so I'm not likely to be around all that much longer," Berthold said in the interview.
