In a show of support, alumni from Evergreen State College have raised over $5,700 for embattled biology professor Bret Weinstein, who was forced into the center of an ongoing campus protest over the past month.
Ryan Sowers, an Evergreen State College alumnus from the Class of 1993, started a GoFundMe campaign to encourage faculty “at other universities to stand up for speech rights.” A self-identifying progressive, Sowers expressed concern over the state of affairs at his alma mater. Information from the campaign refers to the “racialist structure” of Evergreen’s “Day of Absence,” which this year encouraged white community members to leave campus for a day in the spring.
Concerns for Weinstein’s safety expressed by local law enforcement forced him to relocate both his family and class sessions off campus during the final weeks of the spring semester. Sowers hopes that the money from the campaign will be used by Weinstein for a “well-deserved vacation.”
Bret Weinstein is a very well respected professor at The Evergreen State College and had the courage to stand up to the new racialist structure of the annual “Day of Absence” that invited “White People” to stay off campus. Bret’s decision to stay and teach prompted a student witch hunt that has culminated in him, his family, and his students being intimidated and threatened.
My desire is to reward Bret for standing up for free speech and not giving in to these bullying social justice warriors who refuse to engauge (sic) in constructive dialog.
One user who mad a substantial donation hoped that Weinstein would use the money for a vacation or a donation to a cause he finds personally meaningful. The campaign, which ends in July, can be found here.
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