Mabon noted that Ingle was scheduled to graduate in May, and being kicked out of the course would delay that. Were it not for Ingle’s alleged misconduct, the course’s modest requirements, also laid out in the syllabus, suggest he had a good chance of passing: A quarter of the grade was based on a midterm exam whose questions the students knew in advance, a quarter was based on a take-home final exam, a quarter was based on class attendance and the completion of 14 reading guides for assigned readings, and a quarter was based on a project to be presented to the class. I was talking about listening to points of view.” Disruptive, when I said that a course or research might be challenging, even disruptive in some ways, I was not talking about disrespect.

At what point does a heated exchange become disrespect? And who gets to decide?Ĭourtesy of Alison Downie Alison Downie, an associate professor of religious studies, received hundreds of harassing emails, texts, and calls.ĭownie, in an interview, had this to say about the syllabus language: “Disruption is not the same as disrespect. It’s a fresh lesson in the power of the conservative media to shape the free-speech debate on campuses, and how that debate can challenge the core academic mission of colleges and universities. What happened in one classroom made a student into a right-wing hero, and turned the professor into a target. Ingle gave interviews, too, to alt-right outlets such as Red Ice TV, a YouTube channel hosted by the “pro-European” white nationalist Henrik Palmgren. “College student kicked out of class for telling professor there are only two genders,” proclaimed Fox News. His professor said it was his disruptive behavior, not any debate over the number of genders, that was the problem. A senior there, Lake Ingle, told conservative media outlets he had been kicked out of a religious-studies class because he argued that only two genders exist. The rural state university, in a former coal-mining town, had become one of the latest battlegrounds in the nation’s culture wars. Kirk - the head of Turning Point USA, a conservative political-advocacy group - took the stage this spring at Indiana University of Pennsylvania wearing a navy-blue T-shirt that read: “There are only two genders.” He said a professor’s attempt to remove a disruptive student from her class exemplified how “free speech is under attack in college campuses.”Ĭharlie Kirk showed up dressed for the occasion. They weren’t.Chronicle Photograph by Michael Vasquez Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, a conservative advocacy group, speaking at Indiana U. The professor, the high school and the representative’s office needed to be the adults in the room. Regardless of the political message being delivered, students do have the right to “be heard.” Just wait ’till the other person finishes, raise your hand, and don’t cuss.

On the other hand, I really want to be on the student’s side. It just so happens that I’m a teacher and both these incidents involved students. The ACLU told Amodei it’s disturbed by his office’s move “to restrict the First Amendment rights” of a constituent. He said he could have used better language during the call, but that it’s his right to use the words he wants.

Noah Christiansen called Amodei’s office when he walked out of school Wednesday as part of a a nation wide protest against gun violence. Representative Mark Amodei following the two-day suspension of student Noah Christiansen. The ACLU’s chapter in Nevada on Monday sent letters to the Washoe County School District and U.S. The American Civil Liberties Union says a high school in Reno unconstitutionally retaliated against a student after a Republican congressman’s office complained to the administration about a call from the teenager. I have no way of knowing if the angry outbursts were real, or disruptive, or a fantasy. Lake Ingle, a student enrolled in “RLST 481 – Special Topic – Self, Sin, and Salvation,” a course taught by IUP Professor Alison Downie that he needs in order to graduate, objected to his instructor’s claims regarding the “reality of white male privilege,” on February 28. Nearly a month after a student was barred from attending a religious studies class, Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) has reversed course, suspending normal policies and procedures.

Iup professor alison downie