This is worth only a short mention, but I add it here to keep a record. If you’ve been following the Demonization of Bret Weinstein by the Assembled Authoritarians of The Evergreen State College (TESC) you’ll know that after being threatened and told by campus police that they couldn’t protect him, biology professor Bret Weinstein and his family have moved. We now learn from an article in The Olympian, the local paper, that he temporarily moved out of state for safety—and told the College that he did so. Yet the College spokesperson claims that Weinstein is back in Washington State and is on campus. This is either gross communication or a lie; Weinstein (as do I) think it’s the latter:
College spokesman Zach Powers said Weinstein already has returned to his job, and that he’s aware that the college has beefed up its security measures.
“I understand faculty member Bret Weinstein returned to campus just over a week ago to teach in his normally assigned classroom,” Powers told The Olympian on Tuesday afternoon. “He has been notified by Evergreen Police Services of additional law enforcement present on campus.”
Weinstein said Tuesday that is not true.
“If college administrators say I was on campus last week, they are lying,” he told The Olympian. “I left campus when it was evacuated on the morning of June 1. I held my afternoon class in a downtown park that day, and left the state with my family that evening. We have not been in Washington since, and some administrators know that.”
Zach Powers is rapidly becoming the Sean Spicer of Evergreen. Meanwhile, in a frighting display of Faculty Fascism, the teachers at TESC continue to claim that Weinstein’s actions have endangered them (Jebus!), and that he shouldn’t have told his story in public. Yes, I guess they think that when they and the students ostracize a man for writing a simple and reasonable email, he should just shut up and take the blows from the students wielding baseball bats. (I suspect their real motivation isn’t their safety, because they’re not in danger, but that they’re fearful of they and the College looking bad via truthful and widespread publicity.) But in taking on Weinstein, TESC bit off more than it could chew, for the man is passionate, relentless, and implacable in his criticism of the postmodern virus that infects the College. I hope Weinstein sues the hell out of them.
The Olympian reports this:
A group of Evergreen faculty members told The Olympian editorial board last week that they believe Bridges should investigate Weinstein’s actions, saying he helped escalate racial tension on campus by taking his views to Fox News, The Joe Rogan Experience and elsewhere. They said that some faculty members have gotten death threats, and are meeting with their classes off-campus, due to safety concerns.
“I don’t know how I can go back and teach given that I have been portrayed as the reason that Evergreen is in crisis,” Weinstein told Carlson.
Well, perhaps there’s some other college that wants two superb biology teachers (Weinstein’s wife Heather Heying also taught at Evergreen) who are reasonable, calm, and honest.
If I were a staff member at that school, I’d refuse to come on campus under those conditions and I’d sue them for not providing a safe environment. I’m surprised there hasn’t been an outcry with the students, at one point, looking in the cars of people parking on campus (and asking for ID!!) to try to find Weinstein.
As a former academic (35 years), I believe the entire campus should be shut down immediately, if for no other reason than that the place simply cannot function as a college/university under present circumstances. The faculty quislings are no longer doing whatever their jobs may have been because they defaulted to the inquisition and no longer have academic credibility. Any students who can be identified as threatening others should be, at the least, charged with attempted assault so that there is a permanent record of their actions to follow them for the rest of their lives. Students who through no fault of their own have lost their opportunity to participate in higher education should be allowed a year at the University of Washington without cost.
A bit harsh, but I like the use of the word “quisling”. Apropos.
It would be ironic if the lower wage workers such as janitors and cafeteria workers lost their jobs thanks to the efforts of social justice activists.
Brian Leiter has pointed out that a lot of the pseudo-activists in question have next to no *class* consciousness. (He’s explicitly using the Marxist term, and I think this is a great example of where Marx is actually on the money, so to speak. :))
That mob of students has, indeed, physically assaulted at least one student, and threatened, harassed, and intimidated several more.
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I can think of lots of tactics that could be used here. For one thing, what are the gun laws in Washington? What are the laws about civilian use of Tasers? Can Weinstein and his wife obtain CCW permits? Can we start a GoFundMe campaign to hire full-time bodyguards for them? What legal steps can the Weinsteins take to insure that they won’t be prosecuted for shooting attackers? I’ve noticed that Social Justice Warriors tend to scream and run away when faced by victims wielding *real* weapons.
Possibly Powers is Auditioning for a position at the White House. If you are going to lie through your teeth, be bold about it.
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TESC is likely becoming a laughingstock in all but the most intersectional circles. I expect that many students will transfer to different colleges to get a better education.
Hard to see how Evergreen will ever recover any shred of respectability after this. Its reputation, which wasn’t great to begin with, is likely hopelessly tarnished for the future. But the fault falls squarely on the administration, and faculty who display a total lack of integrity.
Apparently, there is another professor at Evergreen that stands with Bret Weinstein.
It is a right wing site, but that is the only place, which I have seen, that has written articles pertaining to the Evergreen mess.
https://www.thecollegefix.com/bulletin-board/new-evergreen-state-professor-stands-insanity-urges-faculty-walk-toward-fire/
This is good news. Lies on the record.
And a lie that shows an awareness of the danger the mob represents because the lie minimizes any such danger. Part of any lawsuit will be proving ill intent. This is good evidence.
“Snaza said he disagrees with the way Bridges has handled the racial tension and unrest on campus. He said students have been allowed to curse, act disrespectful, make demands and hold faculty members against their will. He compared the students’ actions to a hostage negotiation.”
Fire Bridges and hire Sheriff Snaza to run TESC.
“… the teachers at TESC continue to claim that Weinstein’s actions have endangered them ….”
I bet they’re feeling in danger of the school closing and losing their jobs. I would be.
Am I remembering this wrong? – I thought I heard Weinstein say that after the class he held in the park he was finished teaching until the fall.
“I thought I heard Weinstein say that after the class he held in the park he was finished teaching until the fall.”
I don’t remember him saying it, but if you do it sounds completely plausible to me. He certainly is neither holding classes on or off campus, as he has yet to even return to the state in which it’s located.
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I sincerely hope that in a few years, this will be happening on job interviews…
“And where did you get your qualifications?”
“Evergreen State College, Olympia”
“Well thanks for coming in, you have have a nice day now”
I agree. I’m usually in despair over our litigious society but here’s a case where it could work for the good.
I’d bet a box of donuts that the Evergreen police make more than most faculty, but they say they can’t guarantee security on campus?? Isn’t that their job??
If I worked on that campus I’d go to work as I normally would. And if some idiot student decided to mace me or hit me with a stick I’d sue the university on the grounds that the police publicly abandoning their responsibilities at the direction of the president emboldened and encouraged acts of violence on campus