Penn State Students and Faculty Protest After School Cancels Plans for Racial Justice Center
“It’s time that we amplify our voices. We want to be an anti-racist and anti-sexist university.”
The school decided it didn’t have the cash to do this. When they first paused the idea, I predicted protests. Here they are.
The College Fix reports:
Penn State students, faculty protest cancellation of planned race justice center
A week after word came that a planned Center for Racial Justice had been sidelined, over 100 Penn State students and faculty rallied to protest the decision — and demand it be reversed.
The center apparently was a victim of a $127 million budget deficit, but Penn State officials still promised “financial investment in existing [diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging] initiatives.”
The November 3 pro-center rally included “distributed posters and banners” and chants of “No justice, no peace,” the Daily Collegian reports.
Divine Lipscomb, special projects coordinator for PSU’s Restorative Justice Initiative, said the university “was not meeting standards for racial justice on campus.” He said “I’m here to let people know that we ain’t forget. If this is a space of academic learning, who forgot to put some thought into this?”
Professor Michelle Rodino-Colocino (pictured), who teaches courses on “Critical and Cultural Studies of Media, Feminist Media Studies and Media and Activism,” told the crowd “It’s time that we amplify our voices. We want to be an anti-racist and anti-sexist university.”
Political Science Professor Errol Henderson, the “first and only tenured black professor” at PSU and author of a coming book on how white racism affects the field of international relations, blasted the center’s cancellation by saying “I’ve been here 20 years fighting the fight against white supremacism.”
Demonstrators also demanded charges be dropped against a PSU student who protested at October 24’s “Uncensored America” event featuring Gavin McInnes and Alex Stein. This, along with the demand that the Center for Racial Justice’s cancellation be reversed, were among ten total mandates presented at the demonstration.
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“Divine Lipscomb, special projects coordinator for PSU’s Restorative Justice Initiative, said the university “was not meeting standards for racial justice on campus.” He said “I’m here to let people know that we ain’t forget. If this is a space of academic learning, who forgot to put some thought into this?”
Also, if this is a space of academic learning, who forgetted to teach dese grammar?
Hey kids? Still want your center?
Here’s a truckload of Tinkertoys and Legos.
Build your own.
Assuming you can master them without “feeling threatened.”
100 “students” want to take over the whole school and decide for everyone. This is why we are in the trouble we’re in now. We pretend the small minority is the majority and we let children decide.
“It’s time that we amplify our voices. We want to be an anti-racist and anti-sexist university. Penn State remains, however, the ‘Sanctuary City for Paedophiles. Penn State carries a proud history of grooming young boys for the pleasure of coaches, administrators, and well connected wealthy donors.”
WE ARE…CHILD RAPISTS
“
Fine; if they want the center, let them come up with $127 million. Student tuition and PA taxpayer money should not have to carry this garbage.
Good point. If they want it, let them get the funds to build it.
The problem with that argument is that it turns academia into an auction for the highest funding bidder. This has already happened. Ibram X. Kindi headed the anti-racism center at American University. He got a line on some large donors and packed his bags for Boston.
One could argue that “big science” has been playing this game since WW II. The Professors who can bring in millions of dollars of grants get tenure and those that can’t find funding leave academia.
Leadership in the academy involves setting priorities and investing in areas that show great promise for making important contributions to society. For example, just after WW II, Cornell made strategic decisions to invest in nutrition and aeronautical engineering. Decades later, they made strategic investments in biotechnology. This means that unrestricted funds and targeted fundraising were spent on facilities and key staff so that outside funding would be attracted to an important area.
Many people would argue that the flashy trend in the summer of 2020 for “anti-racism” will not be sustainable long term. So, unless donors are knocking down the doors to fund the proposed new center, Penn State would be better off investing its meger unrestricted funds somewhere else.