The University of North Texas seems to place more importance on being woke than the Constitution.Louis K. Bonham writes at Minding the Campus:
Another Hopeful Sign: Hiers v. Board of RegentsIn my last piece, I covered the recent decision in Coalition for TJ v. Fairfax County School District, where the court declared that a new admissions process for a highly-regarded STEM-focused high school was unconstitutional, finding that scrapping the old merit-based process in favor of “racial balancing” (based on Kendian “equity” principles) was clearly illegal under decades of Supreme Court authority. I also noted that individual public administrators could face personal liability for their involvement in adopting such “woke” programs, as the clear nature of the law puts their usual qualified immunity in serious jeopardy.Another recent decision (Hiers v. Board of Regents of the University of North Texas) amplifies this latter point. The Hiers case should serve notice to public university administrators that while wokeism may be the accepted narrative of the faculty lounge, the law is not so easily ignored—and that continued violations may well result in their being held personally liable.Nathaniel Hiers was an adjunct mathematics professor at the University of North Texas (UNT), teaching linear algebra. As described by the court:
An anonymous person had placed in the mathematics faculty lounge a stack of flyers, each of which warned faculty against committing “microaggressions” on college campuses. The flyer defines microaggressions and provides examples of statements characterized as microaggressions that it suggests faculty should avoid using in the workplace. For instance, statements such as “I believe the most qualified person should get the job” and “America is the land of opportunity” are cited as microaggressions promoting the “[m]yth of [m]eritocracy.”
Professor Hiers propped up the flier on a chalkboard ledge and wrote on the board “Please don’t leave garbage lying around.”
He was then summoned by the chair of the math department, who demanded an apology that Hiers wouldn’t give, so they fired him. He sued and the court sided with him
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