Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., closed Thursday in response to a threat of violence, one week after campus police advised a white and “deeply progressive” professor that he might not be safe on campus following his opposition to a white-free “Day of Absence.”

Administrators, however, said there was no known connection between Friday’s threat and the student protests that put the school on the map a week before.

It would be quite a surprise if last week’s protests had nothing to do with the threat that closed the campus. As Bari Weiss wrote in the New York Times Thursday, biology professor Bret Weinstein’s only “crime” was having “the gall to challenge a day of racial segregation,” and yet the backlash was so great it led him to hold his class in a park off campus.

Trending

Weiss writes:

For expressing his view, Mr. Weinstein was confronted outside his classroom last week by a group of some 50 students insisting he was a racist. The video of that exchange — “You’re supporting white supremacy” is one of the more milquetoast quotes — must be seen to be believed. It will make anyone who believes in the liberalizing promise of higher education quickly lose heart. When a calm Mr. Weinstein tries to explain that his only agenda is “the truth,” the students chortle.

Here’s Weinstein in his own words:

Were things really so bad that a professor would be advised to stay off of campus for a couple of days? If you haven’t seen videos of the protests, the answer would be an emphatic “yes.”

Washington State Rep. Matt Manweller called for the “indoctrination factory” to be defunded.

On Wednesday, Manweller unloaded on Evergreen State in a lengthy Facebook post addressed to the school’s administration.

Here’s just a sample:

Your students are an embarrassment. They are in no way “struggling with tension surrounding race, equity and inclusion.” They are struggling with an immeasurable sense of entitlement, self importance, and ignorance. These debates have nothing to do with equity and inclusion and everything to do with self-aggrandizing chest-thumping virtue signaling. Trust me when I tell you that no one is moved by their manufactured and insincere outrage.

…

Might I suggest that your administration consider refocusing Evergreen State College on the teaching of actual academics. Possibilities include, but are not limited to subjects such as: chemistry, physics, mathematics, literature, engineering, biology, accounting and business.
Unfortunately, as long as you are teaching your students that being offended is an accomplishment I suspect they won’t have many real accomplishments in their life.

Ouch. Definitely make time to read the whole thing.

* * *

Related:

 

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
Tags: Bari WeissEvergreen StateMatt Manwellerprotestracesegregationthreat