A University of Washington professor is suing the school after the administration punished him for not including a Native American “land acknowledgement” in his class syllabus.
His lawsuit is being backed by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).
The university’s diversity office has developed language for professors to use so they can “acknowledge that our campus sits on occupied land” and be “more inclusive.”
“The University of Washington acknowledges the Coast Salish peoples of this land, the land that touches the shared waters of all tribes and bands within the Suquamish, Tulalip, and Muckleshoot nations,” the example statement from the university diversity office reads.
Computer science Professor Stuart Reges refused. He first criticized the practice in a December 8, 2021, email to faculty and in fact wrote his own acknowledgement in a January 3 version of his syllabus.
“I acknowledge that by the labor theory of property the Coast Salish people can claim historical ownership of almost none of the land currently occupied by the University of Washington,” he wrote defiantly, channeling English philosopher John Locke.
The very next day, Magdalena Balazinska, the director of the computer science department, ordered Reges to remove the statement from the syllabus, claiming it created “a toxic environment” while calling it “inappropriate” and “offensive.”
Reges once again refused, saying that the request was viewpoint discrimination. This resulted in the university launching an investigation into Reges for “harassment.” Reges explained:
“University administrators turned me into a pariah on campus because I included a land acknowledgment that wasn’t sufficiently progressive for them. Land acknowledgments are performative acts of conformity that should be resisted, even if it lands you in court.”
According to FIRE, Balazinska created a parallel course to compete with Reges’s, ostensibly in order to poach students from his class.
Reges, with the help of FIRE, is suing on First Amendment grounds.
“As a public institution bound by the First Amendment, UW must uphold its professors’ right to free speech and cannot discriminate against them based on viewpoint,” a press release from FIRE reads.
FIRE attorney Katlyn Patton said:
It’s ironic that a university whose motto is ‘let there be light’ would shepherd students into a shadow course to shield them from a professor’s opinion. If UW encourages professors to take a political stance on their syllabi, it cannot punish those professors who diverge from the school’s pre-approved stance. At UW, the message to faculty is clear: Toe the party line or say goodbye to your students.
The case is Reges v. Cauce, et al., No. 2:22-cv-00964, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
Breccan F. Thies is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @BreccanFThies.
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