Prof who was driven off campus for opposing ‘no whites’ day has his day in court

Prof who was driven off campus for opposing ‘no whites’ day has his day in court

Bret Weinstein, who taught at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash. until he was forced off campus and eventually resign, has tasted justice — and it tastes expensive. At least that’s probably the university’s take. It was slapped with a lawsuit filed by Weinstein and wife, Heather Heying, who also been on the faculty, for failing to “protect its employees from repeated provocative and corrosive verbal and written hostility based on race, as well as threats of physical violence.”

According to The Olympian (h/t BizPac Review), on Friday Weinstein and Heying agreed to settled their $3.85 million claim against the school for $500,000.

Last May, I reported that Weinstein was branded a racist after he calmly and reasonably objected to a “Day of Absence” during which white people, of which he is one, would absent themselves from campus.

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The event, which had the imprimatur of a black faculty member named Rashida Love, prompted Weinstein to pen a lengthy memo to all staff and faculty in which he expressed his reservations about this day of supposed “inclusiveness” and suggested alternatives, which sound wholly reasonable to the dispassionate observer. In the memo, he wrote:

When one opposes these proposals, what happens is one is stigmatized as ‘anti-equity’ and because I am light-skinned the narrative suggests I’m a person who has benefited from privilege and that I’m trying to preserve that privilege in the face of a legitimate challenge.

In response to Weinstein’s appeal, 200 irate students stormed the president’s office, demanding that Weinstein’s “white ass” be fired. From there, the protests only escalated, ultimately resulting in the university postponement of classes and all campus activities and shutting down the campus.

Here’s hoping the school learned a few valuable, if costly, lessons about First Amendment rights and generally overreacting to the free expression of ideas that run counter to your own.

Howard Portnoy

Howard Portnoy

Howard Portnoy has written for The Blaze, HotAir, NewsBusters, Weasel Zippers, Conservative Firing Line, RedCounty, and New York’s Daily News. He has one published novel, Hot Rain, (G. P. Putnam’s Sons), and has been a guest on Radio Vice Online with Jim Vicevich, The Alana Burke Show, Smart Life with Dr. Gina, and The George Espenlaub Show.

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