UNL receives backlash after professor was mistaken for husband of US senator

Jan. 8, 2025, noon ·

UNL Pillar
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln administration office sits on city campus. (Photo by Jolie Peal/Nebraska Public Media News)

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has been receiving backlash this week after U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer’s husband, Bruce Fischer, didn’t shake Vice President Kamala Harris’ hand at the senator’s swearing in ceremony on Friday.

UNL employs a professor named Bruce Fischer, though he's not the same Bruce Fischer who is married to the Nebraska congresswoman and went viral in a video where he's seen not shaking Harris' outstretched hand.

University officials said they’ve been receiving calls and comments on social media mistaking the senator’s husband for the UNL architectural engineering and construction professor.

Social media commentators have called on the university to fire the professor, calling him a racist, after the video of the senator’s husband - not the professor - didn’t shake the vice president’s hand circulated online.