University of Chicago President Defends Professor and Free Speech

University of Chicago Geology Prof. Dorian Abbot is the latest target of the cancel culture mob. 

Did he burn a cross? No. 

Did he say the n-word? No. 

He critiqued some people’s habit of viewing everything through a racial lense. 

Specifically, he expressed these two opinions: that we should not dismiss white people as “privileged,”  and departments should not hire less qualified applicants for the sake of diversity. 

From November 13th to the 15th, he released a series of YouTube videos criticizing the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts which are taking place on campus. Here are his final three bullet points of his slideshow.

“‘Anti-racism’ and some versions of DEI promote a worldview in which group membership is a primary aspect of the human being and different groups are taught to view each other antagonistically. They tend to claim that members of certain groups are successful mostly because of some sort of ‘privilege.’

Following these ideologies leads to dehumanizing statements such as: “We need more X diversity in our department, not more Chinese,” or, “Because Z is a white male, he has no right to discuss certain issues.”

Note that the following statement is equally dehumanizing: ‘We should hire Y primarily because he or she will help us with our problem with X diversity.’”

Abbot was definitely on to something. Shortly after he posted the videos, 162 students, grad students, and postdoctoral researchers, issued a letter with a list of 11 demands. Oh, and of course, it listed all of their (or his or hers or they’s… Well you get the picture) preferred pronouns.

“The contents of Professor Dorian Abbot’s videos threaten the safety and belonging of all underrepresented groups within the department,” the letter reads. 

The letter demands the university “explicitly, whether publicly or internally, make clear that the contents and implications of these videos are unsubstantiated, inappropriate, and harmful to department members and climate.”

But Robert J. Zimmer, the President of the University of Chicago, was not playing that game.

He just released a statement about the free speech policies at the school, which protects the professor and all who may come after him.

“The University of Chicago is deeply committed to the values of academic freedom and the free expression of ideas, and these values have been consistent throughout our history. We believe universities have an important role as places where novel and even controversial ideas can be proposed, tested and debated. For this reason, the University does not limit the comments of faculty members, mandate apologies, or impose other disciplinary consequences for such comments, unless there has been a violation of University policy or the law.”

Conservatives rejoice! We have found a college which supports free speech and true diversity. 

A Change.org petition has been created to help defend the professor. It currently has 7,600 signatures. You can sign here. 

Image Credit: Wikipedia
Hat Tip: Legalinsurrection.com