Dorian Abbott (University of Chicago) has now had lectures at MIT and Berkley cancelled for his opinions. Write up below.
https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/mit-abandons-its-mission-and-me
So I dove in and read a bunch of the additional links that this guy offered up in this article. I don't have time to give a lengthy analysis like I did with that Virginia dad a few pages back, but I encourage others to read through this professor's position and read the "supporting" links.
My thoughts are that this is a geophysics professor that started writing op-eds ranting against DEI initiatives, without providing evidence to support his claims or specifying what was actually going wrong at his institution. He is an intelligent, tenured scientist, meaning he will have several peer reviewed publications in his field. Why did he eschew data and evidence in his writings?
In his Newsweek op-ed, he barely takes time to set up a flimsy strawman and then goes on for paragraphs about the dangers of DEI programs. To me, this is a very stupid move, and should be embarrassing for him.
I read a couple other things he wrote where he also didn't provide evidence to support his position. From a scientific/academic/research perspective alone, he should be called out. He is way outside of his lane, and while he certainly has a right to his opinion, I would assume that his institution has an admissions office, a DEI office, a legal office, an affirmative action plan, and folks who have actually done research in the social areas that he is trying to dabble in here. He should raise his concerns with the colleagues who manage those functions and seek intellectual answers before unleashing his half-cocked opinions.
However, I also believe that
the statement meant to denounce him, signed by a bunch of students and colleagues, was an overreaction and also did not fully explain the harm and stupidity of the professor's actions. In academia, students make these sorts of statements along with a list of often unfeasible demands all the time. These statements are often dumb and while perhaps their heart is in the right place, are not conducive to creating a productive dialogue about the issues.
I tend to think everyone involved is jumping to conclusions that have not been completely founded (including my Huskerboard brethren in this thread). I wouldn't call it cancel culture (can someone define what that actually means, anyway?), but it is more of a call and response action resulting from the professor intentionally stepping in a pile of $h!t without thinking it through.
