UC Berkeley Classes Remain Canceled Despite ‘Free Speech Week’ Cancellation

10

“Free Speech Week” may have been canceled at Berkeley — but that apparently hasn’t stopped some faculty at the liberal college from canceling their classes.

Apparently, some professors gave students the day off from class just the same.

“Free Speech Week” at Berkeley was suddenly canceled.

For example: The College of Natural Resources said students and even staffers who felt their safety would be jeopardized by coming to the campus during “Free Speech Week” could go ahead and stay home. And that message stayed true even when the event was suddenly canceled.

Story continues below advertisement

The Daily Californian has the news:

In response to “Free Speech Week,” several faculty members preemptively cancelled classes. After the event’s sudden cancellation, many of these classes were made optional.

The Berkeley Patriot’s announcement of Free Speech Week, which was to be hosted by controversial conservative writer Milo Yiannopoulos from Sunday to Sept. 27, prompted a faculty boycott of classes, while other faculty members opted to make classes optional, citing safety concerns.

“If students or faculty feel they should not come to campus, then they should not come,” read a statement sent out by the College of Natural Resources on Saturday.

On Sept. 14, 132 faculty members called for a complete boycott of classes and campus activities during Free Speech Week. Though the event was cancelled, hundreds of people, including faculty, still partook in a protest Monday afternoon beginning on Crescent Glade and moving to the center of campus.

Other professors, who did not originally sign the letter, later moved classes off campus.

“I have done a lot of reflection on how much of my attitude is related to white privilege, something of course I definitely benefit from in these kinds of situations,” said campus professor of environmental science, policy and management Lynn Huntsinger in an email to students.

Although the environmental science, policy and management department stood by the College of Natural Resources’ original message, individual faculty members were ultimately allowed to make their own decisions about the status of their courses, according to department chair George Roderick.

Associate professor of linguistics Peter Jenks resolved to leave his lecture optional, in part to avoid changing course scheduling multiple times in a single semester, but also to provide an alternative option to students who may not feel comfortable attending amid the protests.

“I was aware of the call to boycott, and I really understood the desire to boycott,” Jenks said. “I don’t think hate speech should be part of an educated conversation on inequality.”

Despite the heightened police presence on campus, Jenks also asserted that the events following the cancelled Free Speech Week and its responses are both “an interruption, but also an opportunity to learn.”

Justin Brashares, also a campus professor of environmental science, policy and management, further reiterated the department’s mission “to provide a safe environment for education and community for all” in an email, emphasizing that it “will not be threatened by a traveling circus of clowns willing to say whatever necessary to gain headlines and incite violence.”

Assistant English professor Jos Lavery said he decided to keep his courses canceled on account of the late timing, but he added that he is working to establish a two-hour make-up course sometime this week for those who missed lecture material.

Lavery commended the student response to the events surrounding Free Speech Week, in spite of what he described as a “campaign to normalize harassment.”

“A large majority of the campus are actively committed to defending free speech that doesn’t devolve into hate speech,” Lavery said. “The resilience of the students is really remarkable.”

The Truth Must be Told

Your contribution supports independent journalism

Please take a moment to consider this. Now, more than ever, people are reading Geller Report for news they won't get anywhere else. But advertising revenues have all but disappeared. Google Adsense is the online advertising monopoly and they have banned us. Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter have blocked and shadow-banned our accounts. But we won't put up a paywall. Because never has the free world needed independent journalism more.

Everyone who reads our reporting knows the Geller Report covers the news the media won't. We cannot do our ground-breaking report without your support. We must continue to report on the global jihad and the left's war on freedom. Our readers’ contributions make that possible.

Geller Report's independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our work is critical in the fight for freedom and because it is your fight, too.

Please contribute here.

or

Make a monthly commitment to support The Geller Report – choose the option that suits you best.

Quick note: We cannot do this without your support. Fact. Our work is made possible by you and only you. We receive no grants, government handouts, or major funding. Tech giants are shutting us down. You know this. Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Adsense, Pinterest permanently banned us. Facebook, Google search et al have shadow-banned, suspended and deleted us from your news feeds. They are disappearing us. But we are here.

Subscribe to Geller Report newsletter here— it’s free and it’s essential NOW when informed decision making and opinion is essential to America's survival. Share our posts on your social channels and with your email contacts. Fight the great fight.

Follow Pamela Geller on Gettr. I am there. click here.

Follow Pamela Geller on
Trump's social media platform, Truth Social. It's open and free.

Remember, YOU make the work possible. If you can, please contribute to Geller Report.

Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spammy or unhelpful, click the - symbol under the comment to let us know. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

If you would like to join the conversation, but don't have an account, you can sign up for one right here.

If you are having problems leaving a comment, it's likely because you are using an ad blocker, something that break ads, of course, but also breaks the comments section of our site. If you are using an ad blocker, and would like to share your thoughts, please disable your ad blocker. We look forward to seeing your comments below.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
10 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
AR154U☑ᵀʳᵘᵐᵖ DEPLORABLE 2020
AR154U☑ᵀʳᵘᵐᵖ DEPLORABLE 2020
6 years ago


Liberal Academia and DNC: ” FREE Speech is what WE say it is !! ”

comment image

Suresh
Suresh
6 years ago

Left/liberal loons never Learn and the dumb voters who elected them pay the price for their ignorance and stupidity.

And Now Muslim invaders posing as unaccompanied refugee “children” (24 – 44 yr old) threaten to kill Swedes if not allowed to stay http://bit.ly/2pLFV6i

And if you speak, write about it , you get harassed , abused, lose job or jailed. AND if jihadis get you , you’d be dead.

AlgorithmicAnalystD
AlgorithmicAnalyst
6 years ago

I guess that is the main library. Notice all the Asian students.

wilypagan
wilypagan
6 years ago

I bet they find all of the self-flagellating profs whining about their “white privilege” hilarious. What kind of dumb cuck would disdain their own privilege?

bargogx1
bargogx1
6 years ago

Maybe they’re afraid Antifa might sitll show up and beat the crap out of everyone in sight.

Mahou Shoujo
Mahou Shoujo
6 years ago

berkeley shut down classes? No loss, the professors of ignorance teach nothing to brain dead stupids who are there solely to subsidize the financial industry through student loans.

HT
HT
6 years ago

Would never hire a Berkeley grad, that diploma is worthless.

az
az
6 years ago

Berkeley is the joke of higher education in America. Any students with brain cells should get their graduations in Real colleges, not in that social jihadi training camp.
If the dean and his pals had a spine, they would have all these trouble makers expelled. They aren’t interested in learning, or make a positive contribution to the society.

edD
ed
6 years ago

Poor fragile snowflakes, all huddled in their safe spaces….

bandonbeachbum
bandonbeachbum
6 years ago

Berzerkly, by suppressing free speech and the free flow of ideas has made it perfectly clear that the ideology of Neo-Marxism has infected the faculty and administration. All county, state and federal taxpayer funds going to the school should be stopped immediately.

Sponsored
Geller Report
Thanks for sharing!