# Is Evergreen State College the canary in the coal mine, foretelling the death of higher education? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 2, 2017, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-evergreen-state-college-the-canary-in-the-coal-mine-foretelling-the-death-of-higher-education/787914 "2017-06-02T05:53:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 1
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-evergreen-state-college-the-canary-in-the-coal-mine-foretelling-the-death-of-higher-education/787914/1 "2017-06-02T05:53:08Z")
Colleges have, for at least several decades now, been known as hotbeds of activism. Usually that activism is an exciting footnote on college’s larger mission of educating young adults, preparing them for their careers and adulthood, and helping them grow and become well-rounded individuals. Lately that footnote seems to have grown to the point that it’s starting to crowd out the central purpose. My concern is heightened because much of the activism I’m referring to appears to have a decidedly racist and anti-free-speech flavor to it. For example, last October protesters at Berkeley’s Sather Gate formed a human chain and blockaded white and Asian students. All of this brings me to Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. Evergreen has cancelled classes today and tomorrow because of a phoned-in threat. While specifics about the threat are still unknown at this time, it’s not hard to imagine that it’s related to events of the past couple weeks. Here’s the background: Evergreen has, for many years apparently, had an event known as “[Day of Absence & Day of Presence](http://evergreen.edu/multicultural/day-of-absence-day-of-presence)”. This year, in apparently a change from previous years, the event called for whites to stay off campus. Enter biology professor Bret Weinstein. He sent [this email](http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/politics-government/article153826039.html) (also available [here](http://college.usatoday.com/2017/05/30/protests-erupt-over-racism-at-evergreen-state-college/) in a less jarring color scheme) protesting the change to the event. Here is the key portions: > [@](#): > > There is a huge difference between a group or coalition deciding to voluntarily absent themselves from a shared space in order to highlight their vital and under-appreciated roles (the theme of the Douglas Turner Ward play _Day of Absence_ as well as the recent Women’s Day walkout), and a group or coalition encouraging another group to go away. The first is a forceful call to consciousness which is, of course, crippling to the logic of oppression. The second is a show of force, and an act of oppression in and of itself. This email, sent in March, apparently came to light last week and earned him the ire of activist students. The students disrupted his class to confront him and it was … [heated](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCZNCmMFwcI). They called for his firing / resignation. The police got called to escort him off campus (literally escort, as in protect from the protesters, not escort as in the typical remove-from-campus usage). Weinstein says the police told him to hold his classes off campus because the protesters were looking for him and they were concerned for his safety. The protesters apparently [occupied and barricaded the library at one point](http://www.theolympian.com/news/local/education/article152491379.html), and [crashed a faculty meeting](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/may/25/evergreen-state-students-demand-professor-resign-f/). They [confronted the college president with some demands](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh1wGFFsIts). The college president released statements on the [27th](http://evergreen.edu/news/post/tolerance-and-respect-show-way-forward) and [30th](http://evergreen.edu/news/post/safety-all-teaching-and-learning). The story got picked up by [the NY Post](http://nypost.com/2017/05/31/college-melts-down-over-plan-for-white-people-free-day-on-campus/) and [Tucker Carlson’s show](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2yvRQNTs1U), among other media outlets. And now, as mentioned earlier, classes are cancelled. [Here are some of the highlights](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO1agIlLlhg). Things seem to have gone off the rails somewhere way back there, to the point that [the college is no longer functioning as a college](http://evergreen.edu/news/post/olympia-campus-status-update-june-1-2017-530pm). How the hell did we get to this point? What can be done to turn things around and strengthen the notion of free speech on campus? ETA: dang, all that typing and I meant for this to go into Great Debates, not Elections. Mods, little help? --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-evergreen-state-college-the-canary-in-the-coal-mine-foretelling-the-death-of-higher-education/787914)._