By Carter Fortman
Daniel Schmidt, a sophomore at the University of Chicago, took to Twitter earlier this month to share details about an upcoming course at the elite university entitled “The Problem of Whiteness.” Now, the professor behind the controversial course is calling for him to face disciplinary action.
“This is how people who detest white people think and talk,” Schmidt wrote on the thread. “And they have taken over all universities under the guise of ‘academic freedom.’ No sane professor can oppose it without risking their career.”
The tweet quickly gained traction, causing Rebecca Journey, the instructor and teaching fellow at the university, to receive numerous emails criticizing the class. Mounting pressure from students, alumni, and concerned individuals across the country led Journey to call off the course for the upcoming semester. Instead, she says that it will be rescheduled for the fall.
Now, the professor is calling on the university to discipline Schmidt:
“This was a malicious attack not just on me as a teacher but on anti-racist pedagogy writ large,” Journey told the Chicago Sun-Times. “We can’t let the cyberterrorists win,” she continued.
The University of Chicago released a statement defending the “academic freedom” of its instructors, including Journey. The statement, however, failed to address the course’s blatantly racist agenda.
Even though Journey plans to move forward with the course in the future, Schmidt is encouraged by the support he has received so far. He emphasized his intent to keep fighting until the course, which is clearly designed to stoke racial tensions, is called off permanently.
“The professor behind this course has publicly smeared me, telling media outlets I am a ‘cyberterrorist’ who needs to be publicly condemned by my university,” Schmidt told Young America’s Foundation. “I will not stop, and I encourage conservative students at all universities to speak up. It sounds cliché, but one voice can truly make a difference.”
