I dared to criticize DEI in an article for Amherst College’s student newspaper — arguing that the dismissal of biological differences between sexes, the prioritization of race over merit in the workforce, and inconsistency between actions taken and their argued intention all warrant serious discussion.
In response, I received hundreds of anonymous ad-hominem attacks on an app called Fizz, have been stalked and filmed by other students, received a death threat, and all while my school’s Title IX office came after me.
Without realizing it, the Amherst College student body ironically proved my point that liberal-dominated Academia is largely incapable of engaging in respectful discourse, especially when it comes to conservative ideas.
Instead of addressing the well-known reality that speaking up as a conservative on college campuses is social suicide, Amherst has instead coddled self-victimized liberals. I currently have a “No-Communications & Restricted Proximity Order” held against me by the Title IX office from a student I have never communicated with who argued that the Amherst football team viewing her public instagram story was harassment and indicative of our “white fragility.”
This, despite many of the students criticized on her story being African American and latino. The Title IX office later met with me to discuss how I potentially violated my order by “non-verbally making myself present” simply by being in our school’s only dining hall at the same time as her.
The rhetoric normalized at Amherst reflects a larger issue of intolerance and hatred among those with dissenting viewpoints within academia. The protests over Palestine last year demonstrated that academia has pitifully failed to create atmospheres where the free and open exchange of ideas can flourish.
At Amherst, I’ve heard a student claim that Southerners are “racist, inbred morons,” and a professor claim that “merit is a euphemism for white supremacy,” and stated “before debating DEI, you must first explain why they believe black people are incompetent.”
Trump supporters, Republicans, and conservatives are seen as morally and intellectually inferior within Amherst and practically nothing has been done to encourage more productive dialogue among the rising generation of American students.
Professors and students alike in liberal echo chambers such as Amherst College have yet to realize their own inability and/or unwillingness to engage in sincere conversations, rather than casting moral judgements, is a main reason for America’s rightward swing last November.
While these examples may seem extreme to outsiders, they are normalized and tolerated at Amherst. Students who are white, male, athletes, or even suspected of being conservative are socially ostracized all while the student body applauds the often-public shaming.
Students cancel those who follow conservative social media figures and ask athletes to “out” their friends who support Trump. I even had a student senator once argue I should send her money for the set of AirPods I accidentally left in my chair because I was “obviously rich, being a white man in America.”
What persists at Amherst is unfortunate, but not uncommon. Academia has become a conglomerate of hyper-liberal bubbles drunk on power, pitifully failing to create spaces where intellectual disagreement can exist.
Still, I strongly disagree with the notion that conservatives should avoid academia. We should enroll and participate in such hostile places, conduct ourselves respectfully, and challenge the status quo through bold advocacy and leadership.
When conservatives behave with dignity and the “party of tolerance” exposes its intolerance, people begin to question the leftist-enforced status quo.
Since the fallout over my article criticizing DEI programs, the president of Amherst College and administration recognized the need for change, and is working diligently with me to make this campus a more inclusive environment for students of all ideological backgrounds.
Still, academia has proven its institutions won’t take action unless students make it impossible to ignore the injustices that occur within them — so that is precisely what we must do.
Academia needs reform, and it starts with conservatives willing to attend the institutions, speak out, and force the change that is desperately needed.
Notifications
