Thomas Jefferson president ‘should have known better,’ says the CEO in a note to the system’s community

The chief executive officer of Thomas Jefferson University said he was “disappointed” in president Mark Tykocinski’s “careless use” of his Twitter account in which he “liked” tweets that question the science of COVID-19 vaccines and call gender reassignment surgery “child mutilation.”

“At his level, he is held to a higher standard and should have known better,” Joseph G. Cacchione wrote in a message Sunday to Jefferson faculty, employees, and students.

Tykocinski is a Yale-educated molecular immunologist and academic leader who was elevated from provost to president July 1 and has worked at Jefferson for 16 years. He reports to Cacchione, who oversees the entire Jefferson enterprise, including the health system, which has a separate president.

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Cacchione’s email to the Jefferson community, which included a letter of apology from Tykocinski, came a day after The Inquirer published a story in which employees and others were critical of Tykocinski’s “like” history on his Twitter account, which identifies him as president of Jefferson and dean of the Sidney Kimmel Medical College.

“Two years after their introduction, the mRNAs Covid vaccines have proven to be what we all should have expected,” said a Dec. 11 tweet by Alex Berenson, once called “the pandemic’s wrongest man” by the Atlantic. “Another in a long line of overhyped, rushed, profit-driven Big Pharma flops with weak long-term efficacy and a lousy side effect profile. …”

That was among nearly 30 tweets by Berenson that Tykocinski liked in the last year. That tweet remained on Tykocinski’s “like” list as of early Monday afternoon, though some of the others that The Inquirer reported Saturday, including one calling gender reassignment surgery “child mutilation,” were removed. Of Tykocinski’s 539 “likes” that existed before the Inquirer story was posted, 348 remained by early afternoon. By midafternoon, it was down to 203.

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Tykocinski, 70, told The Inquirer in an email that he “liked” tweets to bookmark them, “to learn more about the subject matter or the particular viewpoint” and that he did not endorse the tweets or the person tweeting those thoughts.

“I regret my lack of understanding of how ‘liking’ a tweet is an implied endorsement,” he told The Inquirer. “I also regret how my lack of understanding of the Twitter platform caused some to question my views on these complex issues.”

In his letter of apology to the Jefferson community, Tykocinski said he does not believe vaccines are harmful and noted that he and all members of his family received the COVID-19 vaccine.

“I understand that my lack of knowledge of the Twitter platform created questions and unintentionally offended many,” he wrote in his apology message. “Please be assured this will be a learning experience, and I will grow as a person and professional from this misstep.”

But Jessa Lingel, an associate professor of communication and gender, sexuality, and women’s studies at the University of Pennsylvania, was critical of Tykocinski’s response to being asked by The Inquirer if he thought transgender surgery was “child mutilation.”

His answer should have been an unequivocal no, she said. Instead, he told The Inquirer: “This is not my clinical area of expertise. In general, any issue involving children should be referred to clinical experts at children’s hospitals who offer the full complement of services necessary.”

Lingel said: “You shouldn’t need specialized understanding in pediatric care to recognize that trans-affirming care is simply part of health care and part of well-being,” she said. “It’s not a radical stance to say that trans-affirming care is not mutilation for children or anybody.”

Jefferson spokesperson Angela D. Showell said: “Jefferson intends to use this opportunity as a teaching moment regarding the understanding, impact, and prudent use of social media.”

Patricia D. Wellenbach, chair of the Thomas Jefferson University board of trustees and president and CEO of the Please Touch Museum, said in an email Monday afternoon that the situation “is getting my and the board’s full attention.”

“I, and the board of trustees, have complete confidence in [Cacchione], and the management team who are thoughtfully managing the situation while continuing to remain focused on our mission to serve our community every day.”

Cacchione in his message further went on to emphasize that a “diverse, equitable and inclusive environment is fundamental” to Jefferson’s mission and that COVID-19 vaccines “saved countless lives.” Jefferson followed all guidelines, including requiring its employees and students to be vaccinated, he wrote.