What Happened at Evergreen College | Bret Weinstein

October 28, 2019 Peter McCormack

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What Happened at Evergreen College | Bret Weinstein Peter McCormack

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Location: Portland, Oregon, USA
Date: Sunday, 13th Oct 2019
Role: Professor in exile

Since the 1970's Evergreen State College in Washington has held a Day of Absence. On this day, Evergreen students and staff from minorities choose not to attend the college to highlight their contribution.

In 2017, the college proposed new plans for the day. Instead of minority students and faculty voluntarily choosing not to attend campus, the change would flip the event with white students and faculty asked to stay at home.

Bret Weinstein, a biology professor at the college, protested these changes, writing to the college: "there is a huge difference between a group or coalition deciding to voluntarily absent themselves from a shared space in order to highlight their vital and under-appreciated roles, and a group or coalition encouraging another group to go away."

The letter opposing these changes led to a large number of students making claims that Bret's actions were those of "a racist" and led to a group confronting him outside of his classroom. Widespread protests followed, with physical threats made against Bret and the college decided to close the campus for two days.

In this interview, Bret and I discuss life at Evergreen College before the protests, how events unfolded, the repercussions for both Bret and the college and why he believes the reactions may be symptomatic of the current political climate.

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