I appeared on the Stuart Varney show on Fox Business this morning to talk about the Equal Protection Project challenge against segregationist practices at the Ithaca City School District. For background on the controversy, see these posts:
We also touched upon what I expect to see in the fall regarding anti-Israel campus protests and the state of free speech on campuses.
Varney: A New York State School district is apologizing for using exclusionary language to promote a students of color event. The apology came after an anti-affirmative action group accused the District of segregating students. Cornell Law Professor William Jacobson joins me now. Is it plain and simple segregation, William?
Jacobson: Well, yes it is. And it’s pretty shocking. I mean, we just celebrated the 70th anniversary of Brown versus Board of Education, which eliminated segregation in public schools. And we found out at Equal Protection Project that Ithaca City Schools, which is where Cornell University is located, were having events and whites were excluded. The language was for only students of color. And in fact, there was an internal email sent saying that quote, unquote, allies are not welcome, allies being, uh, whites basically. And so we wrote a demand letter to the school district. We insisted that they stop this practice. They denied the practice even though we had the evidence, but we also insisted that they apologize and inform the community that it’s open. And they did that. They sent a mass email apologizing.
Varney: So you are satisfied with this?
Jacobson: Well, so far. We have a Freedom of Information Act request into the district to find out more what’s been going on. We have very strong information that this has been going on for several years, although the school district has denied it. But we think that’s true, and so we’re gonna keep digging. And so we’re satisfied that they opened the event. We’re not satisfied because they have not come clean as to their past practices, and they really need to do that.
Varney: We saw a lot of anti-Israel protests on college campuses at the end of the semester. Most of the students are now home for the summer. Got that. Is that the only reason protests have settled down? The kids have gone home?
Jacobson: I think it is. I think that when we get back at the end of August or mid-August, depending when the school starts at a particular university, we’re gonna see intensified protests. We think they’re organizing over the summer. They’ve already increased the aggressiveness of their language. I think we’re gonna see everything that happened this past eight months on steroids, on campuses. They’re gonna be confrontational, and I think there’s gonna be violence.
Varney: Harvard says they won’t take a position on issues that don’t have to do with their school. Will that help on campus tensions?
Jacobson: I don’t think so. It’s too little, too late. They’ve, for decades, taken positions. The faculty is a monoculture to the left. There is no diversity of viewpoint left on campuses. So it’s nice all of the sudden, after all of this has been done to academia to announce you’re gonna be neutral. They should have been neutral 20 years ago. I don’t think right now it’s going to make a difference.
Varney: You are a, a free speech guy. Would free speech be making a comeback? Can you say that? Have you turned the tide?
Jacobson: I don’t think so. I think that there are instances where it has has, but I think the college culture in general is repressive. But there has been some progress made. I’m not going to say there’s no progress, but people are getting fed up. Students are getting fed up with having their voices censored and silenced and harassed. And I think the, what’s happening now with the anti-Israel protest is putting this into focus because all of the sudden administrations have discovered free speech that for all of these years when they monitored free speech and suppressed it. But now if you want to chant against Israel and do things against Israel, they say it’s free speech. So it’s a strange situation on campuses.
Varney: It sure is. Thanks William. We appreciate you being with us. William Jacobson, thanks for being here. See you soon. I hope. Now this.
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