The disruption continues at Evergreen State University, much of it deriving from biology professor Bret Weinstein’s reasonable email in response to messages “urging” white faculty, staff, and students to leave campus on the “Day of Absence.” As the police were told to “stand down” by the University President, and could not protect Weinstein on campus, he and his family have not only had to stay off campus, but have moved to another place in view of the threats they received. I urge you again to read Weinstein’s email to see how mild and reasonable a declined response to a “request” for white people to leave campus can trigger hatred and violence, and repeated call by students that Weinstein be fired.
It also triggered some if the faculty and staff. 58 members of the Evergreen faculty, nearly all humanities professors (just 7 were in the sciences and math, 4 of those being non tenure-track adjunct faculty) signed a letter of solidarity with the students that, according to Inside Higher Ed, is apparently the one being circulated. 28 staff also signed the statement. It includes this outlandish call for a 1984-style “investigation” of Weinstein (my emphasis):
In solidarity with students, we call for the Evergreen administration to:
* Center student perspectives in a persistent media approach to counter the alt-right narratives that are demonizing Evergreen and Day of Absence specifically.
* Take seriously the threats made to individual community members and use all available institutional resources to protect them.
* Demonstrate accountability by pursuing a disciplinary investigation against Bret Weinstein according to guidelines in the Social Contract and Faculty Handbook. Weinstein has endangered faculty, staff, and students, making them targets of white supremacist backlash by promulgating misinformation in public emails, on national television, in news outlets, and on social media.
If you’ve seen Weinstein’s public appearances (Fox News, Joe Rogan, etc.), you’ll know he’s done no such thing. To punish him and not the students who held President George Bridges hostage, even requiring Bridges to be accompanied by thugs when he had to use the bathroom, is unconscionable.
Many people have said, defending the thuggish and entitled students at Evergreen State, that there was no “requirement” for white people to leave campus. Yes, that’s true: nobody said “all white people must leave campus.” But the messages were sufficiently strong, and the likely consequences at Evergreen so clear (viz., what happened to Weinstein), that it was clearly coercive. One person at the College wrote me:
As some members of the campus community have noted, by citing the emails of others, while there was never a requirement for white people to leave campus on Day of Absence, there was strong pressure to do so, as well as appreciation for those who supported that interpretation.
Grania also commented on the “no requirement” excuse:
The claim from Evergreen that “no-one was forced” is going to remain their mantra. However, it fools nobody: there are plenty of ways to coerce people into doing something against their will without marching them out at gunpoint. Simply asking people to volunteer to do something is coercive enough. If it is truly voluntary then they don’t need to be asked to volunteer. Adding that if they don’t volunteer, then they are a racist is a threat of ostracization. So, threatening, coercive, manipulative. But no guns were used.
Evergreen knows they have lost control of the narrative, and all their statements now are for the benefit of those remaining on the Evergreen campus. It’s a sort of revisionist history to try and convince themselves that events that got terribly out of hand are not in fact what they appear to be.
In the meantime, the Seattle Times reports that, in view of threats and unrest, classes were canceled again today at Evergreen, and I got one report from campus about incidents that won’t appear either in the news or on the Evergreen State website:
Graffiti reading “fuck racist faculty” and “No Evergreen PD” [Police Department] has been written several places around campus. Rocks were thrown through the windows of both the Natural History Museum, and the Scientific Computing Labs today.
(There are also pictures of students on campus with baseball bats, and reports that some of them were roaming around campus with bats, acting like vigilantes.)
The damage to labs and the Museum implies that, as I mentioned before, these disruptions constitute in part a “culture war” between the sciences and the po-mo humanities that seem to infest the campus.
Three other items. First, Evergreen State has decided to hide its faculty directory, even to those on campus who have their own sign-in access to it. Now why is that? Here’s what I got when I searched Bret Weinstein’s faculty page:
I got the same thing when I looked at the Evergreen State “faculty directory page”:
Meanwhile, the university’s Board of Trustees has issued a statement that sounds good, but it doesn’t mention Weinstein and, as the former statement issued by President Bridges, is sufficiently ambiguous to justify the college doing nothing except placating the protestors. It gives lip service to free speech, and says that those who violate it will be disciplined, but that could be interpreted by some to include Weinstein!):
Freedom of speech, civil discourse and open debate has been a cornerstone of our country’s history — and Evergreen’s history. In difficult times, these pillars become even more significant. Intellectual inquiry, freedom of expression, tolerance and inclusiveness are core tenets of Evergreen’s philosophy and approach to education. Anyone who prevents Evergreen from delivering a positive and productive learning environment for all students has, and will continue to be held accountable for their actions and face appropriate consequences.
Does anybody want to bet that a single student at Evergreen will face sanctions or punishment? I’ll bet one reader $50 that no student will be punished for their actions up to today. Email me if you’re on!
The Trustees then insist that Evergreen is no different from many other colleges experiencing “conflict,” and praise the cowardly president for his “unmatched leadership.” If you’ve seen the videos of Bridges being bullied by the students, you’ll know that that characterization is ridiculous: the man is an invertebrate and an arrant coward. (By the way, these videos, most taken by the thuggish students themselves, are starting to disappear from YouTube: a sure sign that the students realize that they don’t look very oppressed and certainly not heroic. It’s all part of the changing narrative from both the students and the College itself.) The Trustees’ statement continues:
Evergreen is not alone in colleges currently experiencing conflict, but because of our longstanding commitment to open and respectful debate it is imperative that the campus dialogue reflects these values. The tumultuous events of the last week have revealed the need to delve further into issues of diversity and equity at Evergreen. Going forward, the college will take a measured approach, which is crucial to ensure that we respond appropriately, rather than reactively.
As trustees, we will continue to work to encourage civil discourse, ensuring that all voices are heard and conversations are productive — in an environment where all teachers can teach and all students can learn. This has always been a part of the education at Evergreen.
We remain passionate about Evergreen’s vision, mission and values, including social justice, diversity and serving the public interest. President Bridges’ unmatched leadership and experience, combined with the college’s outstanding faculty and staff, provide an extraordinary education that serves both our students and the state of Washington. As trustees, in close collaboration with President Bridges, we will continue to ensure that we do so in the months, years and decades ahead.
Contact: Zach Powers, powersz@evergreen.edu, (360) 867-6644
Communications and Public Relations Manager
The Evergreen State College
I will be contacting Mr. Powers with some questions.
Finally, the conservative magazine Commentary, in a piece called “Clean House at Evergreen State,” thinks that the school needs to be put into receivership and its president fired:
But what students and faculty seem to be complaining about, quite apart from the threats, is that the College has been brought into bad repute because Weinstein—the spoilsport—drew attention to what’s going on over there. It is, of course, humiliating to have the distasteful things you say and do make national news. But last I checked, at colleges and universities, we are not supposed to be obsessed with punishing the leakers.
As for President Bridges, in spite of his ode to free speech, he says, just before the 1:19 mark of this video that Weinstein is being “held accountable” for his actions, though he would not go into detail about a “personnel matter.”
An academic department as dysfunctional as Evergreen State College would be a good candidate for being put under receivership. Evergreen, at the very least, needs new leadership. President Bridges should step down. If he does not, Evergreen’s Board of Trustees should fire him.
Fat chance of that! The Trustees seem to have as little backbone as President Bridges. My guess is that no student will be punished, that Bridges will stay, that Weinstein and his wife Heather Heying (also a tenured biology professor who’s been accused of racism) will eventually leave because of their unconscionable demonization (a pity, because both of them were rated as terrific teachers), and that Evergreen State’s reputation has taken a permanent hit. That hit will be the only upside to the dismaying events of the past two weeks.
