Posted on 09/12/2020 7:27:02 AM PDT by billorites
SARATOGA SPRINGS — David Peterson, an art professor at Skidmore College, says it was "civic interest and curiosity" that led him and his wife to attend a pro-police rally in Congress Park in late July.
The Petersons arrived at a little after 7 p.m., watched from the edge of the crowd as "Back the Blue" supporters and counter-protesters traded barbs, then departed to get dinner after about 20 minutes. Neither thought much of it.
But that brief and quiet presence at the rally infuriated some student activists at the Saratoga Springs school. They're demanding that Skidmore College fire a professor who has taught at the school for 31 years.
"Tonight, I and other Skidmore students witnessed Profs. David Peterson and Andrea Peterson at an anti-Black Lives Matter protest," reads an email template posted to social media. "We demand the immediate dismissal of both Skidmore staff members for engaging in hateful conduct that threatens Black Skidmore students."
A supposedly damning photo of the Petersons (Andrea is not actually a Skidmore employee) circulated by students shows them standing at the rally, which was advertised as a "positive, all-inclusive event" designed to humanize and support officers. The Petersons weren't wearing pro-police T-shirts. They weren't carrying a banner, holding a sign or waving a black-and-blue flag. They appear to just be listening.
But merely listening to an opinion that some Skidmore students find objectionable is apparently enough to get a professor in hot water.
"What's troubling is the mob mentality," Peterson, 61, told me. "All of a sudden, you have all these people who hate your guts and they know nothing about you."
On a recent day, Peterson arrived at his classroom to find a notice taped to the door. "STOP," it demanded. "By entering this class you are crossing a campus-wide picket line and breaking the boycott against Professor David Peterson."
"This is not a safe environment for marginalized students," the notice also said, after vaguely accusing Peterson of past sexism and transphobia. "By continuing to take this course you are enabling bigoted behavior on this campus."
The boycott of the professor's jewelry and metal classes has largely succeeded. Peterson said one course no longer has enrollees; two others have only a small number of students remaining.
It's a weird world when taking a jewelry class amounts to a brave stand against peer pressure. But a Skidmore student told me those who oppose the boycott of Peterson (or just find it insanely silly) are afraid to speak up. They're intimidated.
The college's administration is saying very little. In response to a request for comment from President Marc Conner, I received a platitude-filled statement by email that had been sent to the Skidmore community about the controversy.
Without naming Peterson, it noted he had departed the rally long before a controversial confrontation between police and Black Lives Matter protesters. The statement expressed "unequivocal support" for First Amendment rights while adding that the school is "committed to fostering a working and learning environment in which all its members can flourish."
Peterson, though, said he has been disappointed by a lack of support from the administration, which, he said, is investigating the students' allegation of bias. (A Skidmore spokesperson disliked the word "investigation"; the school is following "various processes by which we handle different matters," she said.) Peterson was also disappointed that student activists had not reached out to him before launching their campaign.
That's remarkable, when you think about it.
Wouldn't you want to hear somebody's side of the story before demanding he be fired? Wouldn't you want to engage in some sort of discussion?
The students don't seem interested, which isn't unusual on college campuses. As I've noted before, the notion that higher education is supposed to be about debate and free speech is losing to a campus cancel culture that disrespects dissent and demands conformity.
But the attempt to cancel Peterson isn't even about free speech, because he never said anything. He would have had every right to loudly participate in the pro-police rally, but that's not why he and his wife came to Congress Park.
"We were curious about what was going on," he wrote to the Skidmore student newspaper. "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."
Peterson described himself as relatively conservative compared to most Skidmore professors, but said he rarely expresses views on campus and doesn't believe students are aware of his politics.
pingy
Antifa’s and Burn-Loot-Murder’s are almost as bad as Ole Miss fans.
I’m getting tired of students “demanding” anything. Why will no one stand up to these children?
So typical of the Left. You don’t like what a prof did, so you try to get him fired. Same with everything:
Conservative: Don’t like a program, change the channel
Liberal: Don’t like the program, have it banned
C: Don’t like 32oz sodas, don’t buy them
L: Don’t like 32oz sodas, outlaw them
C: Bakery won’t put two same-sex people on a wedding cake, find a different baker
l: Bakery won’t put two same-sex people on a wedding cake, pass a law that forces everyone to sell them.
ENOUGH
The cancel culture targets another victim who was curious about the Pro-Police rally.
The people in charge who succumb to the threats should be the ones fired. The Petersens were on their own time......we must win this election.
Wait till these kids grow up and find out what the real world is like...
Uh, Administrators, try using the word “NO”. It works.
Be interesting to see how this plays out. Whether the administration chooses to fire the professor or not. I hope he has good legal counsel either way.
Hope the alums are paying close attention, especially those that donate. I stopped donating to my lefty institution years ago - they’ll never get another penny from me for caving to student radicals and communists.
“Antifa’s and Burn-Loot-Murder’s are almost as bad as Ole Miss fans.”
Well, one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen was an Ole Miss fan, and that cannot be said about ANY Antifa/BLM harpy. So, there is that.
All these little communists on college campuses need to be taught some real world lessons.
Only a few people in the class? Sign up! You are getting private tutoring!
At least they are hitting their own. If the professor was not the target, he’d be standing with the students.
This is, on its face, totally ridiculous. Take this, along with the stupid black chick who berated a flight hostess, Saying that blacks are in charge now and call it what it is....stupid, nonsensical racism!
Thoughtcrime is doubleplusungood...
Some of those intolerent students need to be identified and given just as much destructive attention as they give the professor.
I lived in Saratoga for almost 7 years while I was in the Navy. Skidmark hasn’t improved any since.
Some of the stupidest people alive are college students.
That being the case, sorry dude. You helped create your own current crisis.
“Wait till these kids grow up and find out what the real world is like...”
They will hate living in the world they are creating, it’ll be just like Nazi Germany.
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