“I am innocent” says Boca Raton Professor Accused of Living a “Nazi Fantasy”

The Lynn University instructor was accused of antisemitism by the "JewHateDatabase" on Instagram

Steven McGillicuddy and his wife/ Courtesy of McGillicuddy

BOCA RATON — An instructor at Lynn University in Boca Raton has been accused by The Jew Hate Database (JHD) of making antisemitic remarks and living a “Nazi fantasy.” However, the professor denies the allegations and points to a sizable donation he made to a local Jewish preschool last year as evidence of his innocence.

“I am the proud descendant of a Jewish grandmother who celebrates my family’s lengthy contributions to this country,” Steven McGillicuddy told Liberty Affair in an interview on Sunday, two days after JHD published its post about him.

“Last week, someone breached my social media account, grabbed three family pictures from the Allied landing site in Normandy, and doctored those images to make it appear as if I supported antisemitic ideology,” McGillicuddy claimed.

“The hackers then posted those fake images to a social media page that has no connection to me. It went viral, and no one questioned its veracity,” he added.

The post in question was published by JHD, a highly influential Instagram page with 120,000 followers that tracks antisemitic incidents across college campuses and in the corporate world.

“Steven, when he’s not teaching in the classroom, spends his free time commenting pro-Nazi ideas on photos of Jewish students,” JHD alleged in the first slide of their Instagram carousel about him.

From the “JewHateDatabase” page on Instagram

In the next slide, there’s a photo of three Yale University gymnastics members dressed up for Hanukkah. This is followed by a screenshot of a comment that appears to show McGillicuddy asking, “Wo ist ein Panzer, wenn man ihn braucht?” or “Where’s a tank when you need one?”

A Panzer (short for Panzerkampfwagen) is a German tank used by the Nazis during World War II.

“We think that whoever did this—whatever their reason—wanted to make it look like I speak German, which would make it more believable that I posted it. The ironic thing is, even though I’m a historian and a teacher, and this is my [academic] specialty, I can pretty much only say hello or goodbye [in German],” McGillicuddy said.

On the second slide created by JHD, readers are shown three images of World War II and Nazi memorabilia allegedly tied to McGillicuddy’s stay at the Ritz-Carlton in 2022. He claims that these were taken out of context.

While it is true that McGillicuddy took photos of World War II memorabilia—including one featuring a small picture of Hitler—it is important to note that he took hundreds of photos during his trip, as a basic analysis of his Facebook profile reveals.

“The three pictures featuring Nazi artifacts were taken by me during a trip to the Overlord Museum in Normandy and the World War II museum in Caen, France, in 2022. I take photographs on every family trip and editorialize the experience for my children,” he explained.

Contrary to what the JHD post implies, McGillicuddy did not specifically seek out Nazi memorabilia. His photos included a variety of historical artifacts, such as a set of clothing that might have been worn by a Francophone Jewish political prisoner during the Holocaust.

“Being a former police officer, my research interests include the SS, Gestapo, and the Nazi police state apparatus. The vile and disgusting comment in German on the Yale page—I don’t speak German—was a total and outright fabrication,” McGillicuddy stated.

The instructor emphasized that he is a friend of the Jewish community and suggested that his pro-Israel views in the classroom may have made him a target for these accusations.

Last March, the McGillicuddy family donated a $550 photography session from their family photography studio to the Temple Beth David Preschool in Palm Beach Gardens. The donation, made under his wife’s name, was auctioned off as part of a fundraiser for the school.

“We made a sizable donation to Temple Beth David last year… We have the receipts I can provide you. In 2019, we took a tour of the school because we were considering placing our youngest son there. Again, being from a half-Jewish family, this is normal to us,” McGillicuddy explained.

He also spoke about the importance of educating his children about the Holocaust, sharing a particularly emotional experience from their 2022 trip to France.

“Both of my children cried uncontrollably as we explained the system of triangles that were put on political and religious prisoners during the Holocaust. It’s really important for me that my children understand this really dark period.”

He also provided evidence to support his claim of being born into a half-Jewish adoptive family by sharing a screenshot of a family tree with Liberty Affair.

Lynn University has acknowledged the incident and stated that it is under investigation. However, the university has not issued any condemnation of the professor.

Jew Hate Database did not respond to inquiries about whether they verified the claims they shared regarding the professor. They also declined to comment on how their framing of the situation may have implicated an innocent man.

This report was brought to you by Toni Airaksinen, Senior Editor of Liberty Affair and a journalist based in Delray Beach, Florida. Follow on X @Toni_Airaksinen.