From what I’ve read from the CDS, ESC is ~65% “White, non-Hispanic”. Even if all these students (and next year’s potential applicants) lean towards being SJW’s, I still think they would have serious reservations about attending the college. One word of disagreement with the wrong person is apparently enough to have you slapped with the obligatory all-in-one “sexist, racist, homophobic, xenophobic, bigot” label and have 50 students demanding your removal from the school.
Right and a campus police department that isn’t willing or is being ordered not to protect you if things get out of hand.
@OHMomof2 as I said before, it is a difficult task to argue that what is manifestly happening is not really happening because it isn’t being reported by the “correct” sources. This is particularly true when both sides to a dispute are not at all shy in providing their own perspectives on events that indisuptably occured.
Contrast that with your earlier post. How many people on the right do you think will dispute the factual basis for the allegations made by an obvious partisan in an article from The Root, which is an unabashedly partisan source? And yet you seem to rely on the report there as gospel truth, even without video evidence, or any secondary confirmation at all. See the issue?
@Ohiodad51 I’m not disputing the events at all. Between the right-wing scary stories and the college web site and the student newspaper, I think I’ve looked at all sides as best I can.
The issue is that you don’t know what I read, only the link I posted. But the Root is not alone in reporting this.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/princeton-professor-death-threats-commencement-speech-president-trump/
and here is the Fox article she refers to: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/05/28/trump-racist-sexist-megalomaniac-princeton-prof-says-in-commencement-speech.html
No, I understand that she is stating that the threats were made and that is why she is cancelling her further speeches.
And yes, several outlets have noted that. My point is that to date, and I understand that this is a relatively recent story given her speech was only a few days ago, there has been no independant verification of the death threats. All I am saying, is that if it is ok to look at things which tend to put the left in a bad light critically, especially when they are reported on by “right wing” sources, then it should be equally acceptable to look at stories that paint the right negatively with a critical eye. I think this is particularly true when you have such an obvious partisan bias both from the professor and the Root. Does that mean that she is not receiving death threats? No, of course not. But I would feel much more comfortable relying on this story as an example of threats of violence from the right if there was a police report and/or some objective evidence that tells us what actually was said.
And what is more, in the instance at hand the facts themselves are not even in dispute. The videos exist. The students involved have not been shy about their position, neither has the professor. As is always the case in these type of threads, I am completely flumoxed as to why the source for the initial post is of any relevance whatsoever. I have no idea how the initial Fox or WSJ story was a “right wing scary story” but the local paper’s stories were not. Yes, the local Olympia paper at least attempted to be more sympathetic to the student’s point of vew. OK. But that is missing the forest for the trees. The scary part is that students sought to force a professor to leave campus because they didn’t like his skin color. The rest is just window dressing.
The way this is portrayed by Carlson and the professor in the Fox news segment as like something out of Phnom Penh in 1975 and that this professor was in real danger may be an over-statement. I don’t agree with the way the students handled this and of course a professor should not be fired for expressing an opinion. And many of the “demands” are over the top. But the Day of Absence/Presence website seemed to only flip the agenda so that the activities for students of color would be ON campus and those for white students OFF campus. The percentage of students (and professors) that take part is not known. I am sure that this professor felt pressured to take part, but not clear why he felt the need to go to the news media.
Further, there are around 5,000 students at ESC. Those involved in the protests seem to be around 200 (from what I read). That is less than 5% of the population. While the school reportedly leans left, and may not be attractive to certain students, this is not representative of the entire student body. Any more than the fraternity issues at Penn State or even the protest at other schools mean that every student is involved.
Things had reportedly calmed down until the bomb threat this week, which may or may not have anything to do with the protests.
Has hit mainstream media as actual new story in WashPo.
It’s really pretty simple. Some people still believe that sunlight is the best disenfectant. You know, the whole “democracy dies in darkness” shtick.
@OHMomof2 posted another article from this student newspaper. Here’s another one:
http://www.cooperpointjournal.com/2017/05/31/the-truth-about-the-evergreen-protests/
Gives some more background to the Day of Absence/Day of Presence history (DoA/DoP).
BTW here is the threat that was made, or at least a bit of it.
“Yes, I am on my way to Evergreen [College] now with a .44 Magnum. I am going to execute as many people on that campus as I can get a hold of,” the man said. “You have that, what’s going on here, you communist scumbag?”
http://www.kiro7.com/news/local/threat-closes-evergreen-state-college-amid-high-race-tensions/528732951
The kiro7 report says “Rashida Love, director of the First People’s Multicultural Advising Services program, sent an email asking for some white students to volunteer not to be on campus for an anti-racist “day of absence” event.” What the Cooper Point Journal clarifies is that this was a voluntary event that you had to pre-enroll for and certainly not everyone took part. So the ‘some white students’ would refer to the white students who had enrolled to take part in the workshops related to DoA/DoP. I think the news reports would be taken differently if this had been clarified.
The news reports would have still focused on the student’s/mob response, caught on video, to Professor Weinstein’s e-mail and then latter to the school president (stop waving your HANDS!!!). The recent threat to campus, just keeps this sad story going…
You know, tangentially, that a campus department calling itself “multiculural advising services” in my opinion is part of of the problem, Why on earth isn’t the department called “Advising Services.” I’m pretty sick and tired of all this “look at me, poor me” stuff. The colleges are creating their own messes by poorly attempting to mollify every possible difference - culturally, racially and socio-economically - in what frankly, is one generic group of “college students” who are pretty privileged to BE in college as it is and should all be working toward the common goal of their degree. It makes me wonder if anyone in academia has ever worked outside the hallowed gates where all kinds of people, including all kinds of ages unlike colleges, have to come together and work together toward a common goal. No one should be absent from anything - they should all be in class learning and pondering and yes, memorizing. Profs, of all people, should feel free to vocalize…they get paid to do that. Students pay to listen…and argue in an academic setting if they so feel inclined. Yuck, what a truly horrible, narrow-minded period of time in our country’s history, I am so very glad I have only one more senior to get graduated.
It was “voluntary” in the sense that if you didn’t “volunteer” to stay away, you would be threatened to the point that the police would tell you to stay away for your own safety. These were disgusting racists.
The campus police were the ones who advised Professor Weinstein that he was in danger and I am inclined to believe them. After seeing those videos if you were Professor Weinstein would you have gone back on campus? I certainly would not have. And if it were my H or S they would have to walk over me first if they intended to go back before the situation calmed down. I do not think the situation was overstated at all.
Well perhaps because his academic career was being put in jeopardy. He was being labeled a racist and attempts were being made to get him fired. Can you imagine trying to get another faculty position anywhere in this country after being labeled a racist? He was given an opportunity to defend himself and tell his side of the story by the press. He did so and it probably saved his career. Who knows what George Bridges would have done with him if the national spotlight was not on Evergreen’s campus. I have an idea though and Professor Weinstein would have likely ended up as a sacrificial lamb.
I think any attempt to turn this around on Professor Weinstein is misguided and just plain wrong.
Professor Weinstein went on a network that is notorious for its extreme bias against women and minorities. So I think that is plain wrong. He inflamed the situation. What a lot of the protesters wanted is simply a carry over of the Rooney rule from the NFL to faculty hires. It has worked well in pro sports for the last 20 years. I think it can work in academia if given a chance. A number of the tech companies also use it with success.
The situation on Evergreen’s campus was already inflamed by the time he appeared on Fox. Professor Weinstein was teaching his Biology class in a public park for God’s sake.
And the protestors called for him to be fired right after he sent the email declining to leave campus for the Day of Absence. His position on faculty hiring was not what initially caused them to target him. And please do read what his position is on that issue.
Now it’s homophobia to criticize a LGBT student for obnoxious behavior? I guess some folks have not viewed the video of the ruckus of students screaming profanities as the college president and members of his staff were “detained” in a conference room. Particularly, a male student angrily expressed his severe dissatisfaction with ESC. He said as a gay man he felt neither happy nor safe on campus. What he deserves criticism for is how he expressed his demands. The lengthy video of the ruckus with the President is online so I am sure you can find it. But thanks for defending anyone who screams, demeans and drops the F-bomb too many times to count during what’s supposed to be a discussion. As was often said during the height of civil rights activism; ‘that’s mighty white of you.’ My guess is that the irony is lost here. By the way, I have no idea if any of the other protesters were LGBT. At least one guy identified himself as such, but no impartial person attributes his intimidating conduct to LGBT students a whole.
The attempted intimidation of Prof. Weinstein was bad enough, but the video of free-for-all with the college president is downright scary. I’ve been reading about the entire affair in the local newspapers. I haven’t watched or read coverage from any other sources. I doubt if the Tacoma and Olympia newspapers have an axe to grind here.
Oh brother - who cares where he gave his message. People need to get a grip and stop being inflamed about every little thing. Cripes. You’d think the world turned on its axis in the past two years.Hire the best person for the job. Period. I don’t care who teaches my kids as long as they aren’t idiots or can’t speak English. My kids will agree with some, disagree with some. Like some and dislike some. Good grief - my boys don’t need males over the height of 6 ft with blonde hair and blue eyes and midwest sensibility that “look” like them and think like them to learn so what is it with some students that they have to have a professor who “looks like them” or “thinks like them.” I agree with the Professor, it’s all quite ridiculous. They should want good professors. Period. The best the college can afford and attract.
It is not ridiculous when the only professors they can find are those white males and people aren’t happy with it. Its called discrimination and misogyny in academia
Here is what one of the other professors had to say about Weinstein
“Bret Weinstein has demonstrated on more than one occasion a very limited understanding of the pervasive institutional and systemic racism that continues to be pervasive in U.S. society s. That he believes in racial justice in an abstract way is not a sufficient excuse. His comments both before and especially on and after, May 23rd, 2017 demonstrate a pattern of not taking seriously the needs and safety of Black students and staff at the Evergreen State College. On Friday, May 26 th, Weinstein appeared on Tucker Carlson’s program on Fox News and accepted and did not challenge the misinformation put forward by Carlson, e.g., that whites were forced to leave campus during the “Day of Absence” in April of this year. The focus of this day was learning to understand racism more deeply and how to challenge it. In reality, 200 white students were asked to volunteer, not forced, to leave campus for this discussion, a minor departure from previous years where students, staff and faculty of color had left campus for one day.”
Weinstein is trying to distort the truth, plain and simple
“asked to volunteer.” Either a peculiar turn of phrase or an Orwellian one.
Given the circumstances it sounds more George than not.
That quote in #97 I am going to bet comes from a professor who is basically a professional activist and protestor. Do your research – pretty sure he was terminated at some point from one university and earlier in his career arrested and convicted over some fiasco with the Santa Fe Railroad. Don’t know the details, but this is a man who appears to thrive on conflict.