Activists from opposing ends of the continuing Evergreen State College chaos have scheduled rallies that will take place near and on campus this week.
According to a report by the Olympian, free speech activists and a group of Olympia community members who defend the college’s actions against Professor Bret Weinstein have both scheduled rallies that will take place this week.
A rally set for Wednesday called “Olympia Stands with Evergreen” will take place in downtown Olympia. Organizers claim that they want to remind lawmakers that the local community stands with Evergreen State College, despite the recent chaos that has captured the attention of the national press.
This peaceful rally is intended to A) Send the message to the people at Evergreen that the greater Olympia community loves and supports them and that we abhor the disgusting threats they are receiving, and B) Make the statement that the Olympia community loves and supports this college, which some conservative politicians are trying to strip of its federal funding.
The rally is being organized by Evergreen graduate Mark Alford, who claims that the campus needs protection after “white supremacist posters and graffiti were widely posted on campus” and a phoned-in threat shut down the campus for two days.
A second rally, scheduled for Thursday and titled “Free Speech Evergreen State College,” will be held on Evergreen’s campus. Organizer Joey Gibson claims that the event should serve as a wake-up call for the Evergreen community.
“Evergreen State College: you guys need to wake up,” Gibson said. “…You don’t understand what the real world is like. And you need to understand how lucky you are. You are at a university, getting an education. You don’t have to be running around complaining and screaming and acting like victims.”
Tom Ciccotta is a libertarian who writes about economics and higher education for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @tciccotta or email him at tciccotta@breitbart.com