The Volokh Conspiracy

Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent

Campus Free Speech

"Students Demand Skidmore College Fire an Art Professor for Observing a Pro-Cop Rally"

"David and Andrea Peterson didn't even participate in the rally—they just watched it. The students don't care."

|

Robby Soave here at Reason has the details, based on a Times Union (Chris Churchill) story and this Skidmore News (Samantha Sasenarine) column:

David Peterson is an art professor at Skidmore College, a private liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York. In late July, the professor and his wife, Andrea Peterson, attended a "Back the Blue" rally—not as supporters of the cause, they say, but as curious spectators.

"Given the painful events that continue to unfold across this nation, I guess we just felt compelled to see first-hand how all of this was playing out in our own community," he later told the student newspaper.

They stood on the edges of event, watching pro- and anti-law enforcement demonstrators argue with each other. After 20 minutes, the Petersons left to eat dinner.

But unbeknownst to Peterson, the couple's attendance at the rally was noticed. Now Skidmore students are demanding that both Peterson be fired for "engaging in hateful conduct that threatens Black Skidmore students," according to Times-Union columnist Chris Churchill, who wrote about the controversy.

Read the whole thing, and read also the Skidmore News column for the full flavor, especially lines such as these:

In addition to many white professors ridiculing students of color, white staff that work in different departments, such as Facilities, Campus Safety, and the Dining Hall, work and drive around campus with Blue Lives Matter masks, "F***Cuomo!" car stickers, and Trump-supporting attire/bumper stickers.

There is also an earlier story on the subject at Legal Insurrection (Mike LaChance).