Friday, June 23, 2017

Linfield College YAL harassed, investigated

Students launch libertarian club at small Oregon college and get harassed, investigated, condemned - The College Fix - Max Diamond:

June 21, 2017 - "All they wanted to do was promote free speech and intellectual diversity. Instead ... their efforts were stifled and stymied through fear and intimidation, administrative power, and student hysteria at their small school in McMinnville, Ore.

"The liberty-loving students say they faced repeated and intense backlash from some professors and students after launching their club this past spring — mostly notably their event with controversial Professor Jordan Peterson was canceled by campus leaders. Peterson is the University of Toronto psychologist recently famous for his opposition to the requirement of made-up gender pronouns.

"The student group was also investigated for circulating a 'free speech ball' on which someone drew Pepe the Frog, the unofficial alt-right mascot. After an investigation, during which YAL leaders were called in and interrogated, the student who drew the image was forced to write a conciliatory essay.

"Another of their events, a screening of The Red Pill, a documentary on men’s rights activists and critical of the contemporary feminist movement, drew even more ire from campus leaders, with one even likening the libertarian students’ events to terrorism recruitment....

"The Linfield Advisory Committee on Diversity then held a free speech forum for the whole campus the Monday after the free speech ball [which] turned into three and half hours of 90 students and professors interrogating and slandering members of Young Americans for Liberty.... English Professor Reshmi Dutt-Ballerstadt alleged that YAL is 'funded by conservative dark money' and 'funded by alt-right white supremacists'....

"[T]he Associated Students of Linfield College, citing Peterson’s 'violation of Linfield’s harassment policy' and Peterson’s lack of punctuality in turning in an application – it was a day late – canceled the talk.... Nonetheless, the show went on. Peterson and YAL rented space at the Evergreen Aviation Center Museum grounds and, according to Smith, about 400 fans showed up, and more than 300 people watched it on livestream....

"Professor Dutt-Ballerstadt, in an op-ed in the Linfield Review, rhetorically suggested the YAL events “promote racism, homophobia, transphobia, bigotry, misogyny, rape culture, violence against women and a disregard for disabled individuals on our campus'.... Associate Dean of Faculty Dawn Nowacki wrote: 'Overt white supremacism, misogyny, and hatred of LGBTQTI people have not been strongly expressed in the events organized by the Young Americans for Liberty. In fact, these efforts are a lot more subtle. Just as becoming a terrorist is a gradual, step by step process, people do not become part of the alt right overnight. These events represent a kind of soft recruitment into more extremist ideas.'"

'via Blog this'

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