Republicans in the Washington State legislature have proposed a bill to revoke $24 million in annual state funding for Evergreen State College after social justice warriors effectively shut down the school's campus for two weeks after a faculty member objected to a planned demonstration that asked all white students and staff to leave campus for a day, as Campus Reform reported.
Protests erupted late last month after biology professor Bret Weinstein sent an email to his colleagues arguing that the planned “day of absence” protest was itself a “form of oppression.”
The email was eventually published in the student newspaper, angering snowflakes on campus. On May 23, more than a month after Weinstein sent the email detailing his objections, an angry mob of about 50 students disrupted his class, accused him of being a racist and demanded that he resign, as Weinstein recounted in a column published in The Wall Street Journal.
As Weinstein noted in WSJ, the day of absence protest is a tradition at Evergreen. In previous years, students and faculty of color would meet off campus. But this year, the events’ organizers – who claimed that the election of President Donald Trump made them feel “unwelcome” on the campus of the far-left institution – instead invited white students, staff and faculty to leave campus.
Weinstein objected to the protest in an email sent to staff and faculty back in March where he argued that “on a college campus, one’s right to speak – or to be – must never be based on skin color.”
And now, in response to the farce, Washington state lawmakers have proposed legislation to revoke Evergreen's public funding, calling the students an "embarrassment." The bill is being spearheaded by Republican State Representative Matt Manweller, who introduced it alongside a letter to Washington State's Human Rights Commission requesting an investigation into the administration’s conduct.
“You are a taxpayer funded school and the taxpayers expect you to provide an environment of education not a dystopia of indoctrination,” Mr. Manweller wrote.
“If your goal is to create a modern-day version of a reeducation camp, then do it on your own dime.”
While it would strip away some of the school's funding, students at Evergreen would still be eligible for financial aid if it passes.
Evergreen’s administration kowtowed to the protesters, with President George Bridges promising that no students would be disciplined for their disruptive and threatening behavior.
“That they would allow students to threaten professors and other students based on their race is simply horrifying,” Manweller continued.
“The administration bears direct responsibility for this situation. They hired the professors who have elevated the pseudo-science of ‘social justice’ to a religious movement. Now all dissent is crushed by threats of violence or actual violence."
"These students and their administration are trying to undo the Civil Rights Movement. They are trying to re-institute a Jim Crow approach to education that Americans rejected over 50 years ago,” Manweller told Campus Reform.
“We must never go back to a segregated society - whether it be drinking fountains, buses, or school buildings."
“It is incredibly frightening that the administration at Evergreen would tacitly support Brown-shirt tactics we have not seen since 1930s Germany. That they would allow students to threaten professors and other students based on their race is simply horrifying,” Manweller exclaimed.
While the bill’s chances of passing are unclear, Manweller says he’s optimistic.
Meanwhile, the Washington Times reports that more than 50 faculty members have sent a letter urging the administration to discipline Weinstein for…wait for it…endangering the college’s students, faculty and staff:
"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.”
Of course, the irony of this is statement is staggering. As Weinstein told WSJ: Campus police recommended he hold class off campus because of threats made by protesters, some of whom stopped and searched cars traveling through campus, allegedly looking for Weinstein.