This story somehow managed to slip through the cracks last week, and we apologize for missing it. But it’s picked up quite a bit of steam since then, and we want to do our part to make sure as many people as possible find out about it.
Last week, Students for Life America posted this video featuring Shellyne Rodriguez, an adjunct assistant professor in the Hunter College Department of Art and Art History. It seems that Rodriguez didn’t care for the table the group had set up and decided to take matters into her own hands, by literally using her hands to shove Students for Life’s stuff off their table. And berating them all the while, of course.
Watch:
PROFESSOR GONE WILD: Pro-abortion professor Shellyne Rodriquez curses at pro-life students and vandalizes table at Hunter College. pic.twitter.com/QNspuXB4KK
— Students for Life of America (@StudentsforLife) May 17, 2023
Did a baby poop in her Wheaties or something? Geez. That’s an awful lot of rage from an ostensibly mature adult at a couple of students who just want to talk to people about how unborn baby lives matter.
"This is violence" she shrieks as she throws shit and yells at people for doing nothing but providing information and opinions.
— Boo (@IzaBooboo) May 23, 2023
(Notably, for someone worried about Students for Life being anti-trans, Rodriguez assuming that the young men at the table can’t have babies seems highly cis-normative and — dare we say it? — transphobic.)
There needs to be a purge in our education system, from elementary to universities https://t.co/nbez99UfDu
— Ahmed Al Assliken 🍑👅 (@assliken) May 23, 2023
Honestly, with each passing day, it gets harder and harder to disagree with that assessment.
Appalling behavior from a college professor who can't abide an opinion with which she disagrees. https://t.co/f4eGB68jkQ
— Erika Sanzi (@esanzi) May 23, 2023
People with impulse control throwing psychotic tantrums at work & in the capacity of their jobs because of differing views, are the ones who should face consequences, including job loss. Not anons sharing memes on Twitter or parents speaking up to school boards. This is not hard. https://t.co/IfABdkNjgP
— J.R. Holmsted (@JHolmsted) May 23, 2023
It’s worth noting that The Graduate Center chapter of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) at CUNY is asking people to sign a letter of support for Rodriguez. This is how the letter discusses Students for Life:
On Tuesday, May 2 at Hunter College, the anti-abortion group Students for Life set up a table and prominent banners to propagate dangerously false propaganda, after receiving permission by the Office of Student Affairs (OSA). This kind of disinformation should never be allowed to take root at our college.
…
Students for Life and other far-right groups are not welcome on our campuses. Anti-abortion propaganda actually endangers people’s lives, and incites other far-right views and actions to emerge. Anti-abortion groups are in collusion with anti-queer and trans, anti-labor, and anti-Palestinian campaigns, in a larger vicious vision to violate people’s bodily autonomy, economic well-being, and collective determination.
Meanwhile, they took quite a bit of creative license when it comes to Rodriguez’s interaction with Students for Life:
Hunter College adjunct educator Shellyne Rodriguez approached the display, constructively critiqued the group members, and eventually physically took down items from the table. Her actions to shut down the tabling were fully justified, and are part of a long and celebrated CUNY legacy of confronting groups such as military recruiters who disseminate misleading information.
So, if you really think about it, Shellyne Rodriguez was actually protecting Hunter College students from Students for Life! And just look at the caliber of people who are defending Rodriguez’s actions and honor:
Shelleyne is not alone. She has the full support of PSC union members, CUNY for Abortion Rights, Palestine Solidarity Alliance, and others in the Hunter and CUNY community who refuse to allow anti-abortionists to peddle fearmongering and fabrications as “women’s rights.” An attack on anyone’s right to choose abortion is an attack on all of us.
Eww.
If this is what radical leftists need to tell themselves in order to be able to sleep at night, that’s fine. But we’re not gonna just sit here and pretend that behavior like Rodriguez’s is remotely acceptable or tolerable.
We're a nation of toddlers, prone to throwing fits over what should be serious matters of reasoned debate. The people who act like this should rightly be shunned and drummed from polite society but instead are rewarded. https://t.co/2KO9bTaUkA
— Boo (@IzaBooboo) May 23, 2023
Honestly, given not just Rodriguez’s conduct but also her stance on the First Amendment, we wouldn’t shed any tears if common sense and decency won out and she did get fired for this. Vandalizing Students for Life’s property, aggressively confronting them for the crime of merely existing, someone like Shellyne Rodriguez really has no business being in an institution of higher learning.
Shellyne Rodriguez should be fired, not because she's a liberal loon, but because she treated students this way.
This isn't about political opinions. This is about a person incapable of handling dissent like an adult. https://t.co/RIwaQDfWLy
— Fuzzy Chimp 🇺🇸 (@fuzzychimpcom) May 23, 2023
Unfortunately, we ultimately aren’t holding our breath for her to face any consequences.
D: Shellyne we've reviewed the video and found your behavior to be juvenile, disrespectful, unprofessional and downright maniacal
S: Am I fired?
D: Ha! No. Of course not. We're giving you a raise sistah!— StanleyFosha (@stanleyfosha) May 23, 2023
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