As Twitchy readers probably know, Ben Shaprio’s speech at UC Berkeley went off pretty smoothly last week, with only a handful of arrests, mostly for possession of banned weapons — in short, police made certain students and out-of-town agitators didn’t run riot in the streets like they did in February when Breitbart’s Milo Yiannopoulos was scheduled to speak.
Speaking of Yiannopoulos, next week at UC Berkeley is something called “Free Speech Week,” and he, Ann Coulter, Steve Bannon and others are supposed to appear on campus. If Shapiro’s speech alone was enough to cause business owners in the city to board up store windows and ATMs, you can imagine “Free Speech Week” has given Berkeley faculty and students the vapors.
Sure enough, hundreds of faculty, alumni, and students have signed a “Boycott the Alt-Right” letter urging teachers to cancel classes and UC Berkeley to close down the campus and and let staff stay home.
'Grown Up' Snowflake Watch: Berkeley Faculty Boycott Their Jobs to Protest Free Speech Week https://t.co/9bfcQWd53Q
— The Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) September 15, 2017
“If the administration insists upon allowing the Alt-Right to occupy the center of our campus for four days to harass, threaten and intimidate us, as they did during Milo’s visit in February, then faculty cannot teach, staff cannot work and students cannot learn,” the letter reads.
Not only will there be more of those scary armed police officers on and around campus that week; holding class “forces students to choose between their physical safety, their mental well being, and a grade.” As proof of the danger, the letter lists several examples of violence incidents that have taken place since the inauguration — conveniently leaving out the rioters who burned and vandalized the campus and town over Yiannopoulos’ appearance.
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Judging from the signatures on the letter so far, it looks like next week might be a light week if you’re majoring in Gender and Women’s Studies, African American Studies, Ethnic Studies, or Social Welfare.
https://twitter.com/ArthurSchwartz/status/908784737606602754
“As faculty, we reject both the administration’s rhetoric of false equivalency that all speech — including ‘hate speech’ — merits value and respect and also the impulse to see direct confrontation as the only strategy of resistance,” the letter reads. “A boycott of all campus activities during these days is the only responsible course of action.”
That's not a protest. That's a reward.
— Will Collier (@willcollier) September 15, 2017
Elitist population living on their thrones in a "fog brained", self-perpetuating environment that is disconnected from reality.
— David Meldrum – Outlaws (@DRBMeldrum) September 15, 2017
What a bunch of pussies, when and if they graduate and get a job, there will be co-workers and no safe spaces. Will have to listen to others
— no where man (@btajs26) September 16, 2017
https://twitter.com/BillaBraskyMFr/status/908920737020424192
https://twitter.com/mdunton55/status/909043128056909824
How about take the rest of the semester off without pay
— Bob (@bobjig) September 15, 2017
No loss.
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Related:
UC Berkeley counselors about to treat first Shapiro-triggered patient (who didn’t even hear his speech) https://t.co/9ZenaR86tU
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 15, 2017
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