Michigan State University (MSU) has suspended creative writing professor William Penn for the remainder of the semester for his anti-Republican rant on the first day of classes, Campus Reform reported.

MSU began their investigation into the incident once they were made aware of it after a video taken by an anonymous student in the class. The student recorded the professor and caught him on tape calling Republicans "old" and "cheap" and mocking Mitt Romney and his wife Ann.

In the video he also said he "come after" anyone he found to be a closet racist and appeared to bully a student in the class who he said was "frowning" during the lecture.

Karen Wurst, dean of MSU's College of Arts and Letters, wrote an email to the class' students and stated Penn would not be teaching in 2013.

"On Aug. 29, during your Literatures, Cultures, Identities course, Professor William Penn made comments he has acknowledged were inappropriate, disrespectful and offensive and may have negatively affected the learning environment," she wrote. "Once MSU was made aware of the situation the Office of the Provost immediately began a review."

"As a result, Penn's duties have been reassigned, and he will not be teaching this semester," the email read. "A new instructor is being assigned to your course."

The email did not say whether or not Penn would be suspended with or without pay. A statement from MSU spokesman Kent Cassella also did not specify if Penn would return to the school.

"Michigan State University is committed to creating a learning environment that is characterized by mutual respect and civility where diverse ideas can be explored," he said in a statement Thursday.

MSU trustee Mitch Lyons, a Republican himself, told MLive.com the remarks "offensive" and "hateful."

"That certainly doesn't foster a sense of community in the classroom where you can share your own thoughts," Lyons said, adding his political affiliation had nothing to do with his distaste for Penn's rant. "He was spewing hate, really, and that's uncalled for, regardless of party. I didn't think that was appropriate for the classroom at all."

MLive.com contacted an MSU student who had previously taken classes with Penn. Nick Tafelsky said the creative writing professor would go on similar rants three or four times during the semester and said they often had nothing to do with the original lecture.

"He had a similar series of what I'll call jokes back in the spring about how Romney has so much money and you don't want to be Romney because then you actually have to be Mitt Romney," Tafelsky said. "He would kind of start with something to kind of lighten the mood with a light-hearted joke, which was perfectly acceptable, then go on talking about intelligence or philosophy of some sort, then it would lead (to politics)."