College threatens 'action could be taken' against students who fail to use others' preferred pronouns — and one detractor calls policy 'nuts'



A Pittsburgh college told its students that "action could be taken" against them if they fail to use others' preferred pronouns, Campus Reform reported.

What are the details?

The outlet said it obtained a Sept. 13 email from Point Park University's Office of Equity and Inclusion to the student body outlining the college's anti-discrimination policy for the 2021-2022 academic year.

The email was meant to inform readers about PPU's "Preferred Name Policy" as well as rules regarding "misgendering, pronoun misuse, and deadnaming (the use of a person's legal 'dead' name instead of using the person's chosen or preferred name), as well as resources on microaggressions and additional training," Campus Reform said.

The college's Preferred Name Policy allows students and faculty members to use their preferred names when legal names aren't required, the outlet said, adding that its Misgendering, Pronoun Misuse, and Deadnaming Policy states that "any individual who has been informed of another person's gender identity, pronouns, or chosen name is expected to respect that individual."

And if a complaint is filed against alleged violators, "action could be taken," the email says, according to Campus Reform.

"While the University recognizes the aspect of intent versus impact, we must recognize that regardless of the intent, if an individual is impacted in a harmful way, action could be taken if a complaint is filed," the email states, the outlet said.

What is meant by 'action could be taken'?

Campus Reform said it's unclear what PPU means by "action could be taken."

Louis Corsaro, managing director of university marketing and public relations, told the outlet that "Point Park University expects every member of its community — students, faculty and staff — to treat each other with respect."

Point Park University's Student Government President Dennis McDermott told Campus Reform he doesn't know the policy's exact details but added, "I would imagine any violation (in this case misgendering, misuse of pronouns, or incorrectly using someone's deadname when you are aware of their preferred name and pronouns) would result in a similar action to any act of discrimination against students on campus."

Fox News said a PPU spokesperson declined to comment regarding the cable network's request for details on how the policy would be enforced.

'To expect people to completely rewire how they interact with others is nuts'

"I understand what the university is trying to do — to be more inclusive and make those people feel more involved and maybe less separated and more respected — but by asking me to do this instead of just allowing students to do it themselves is making me feel uncomfortable and making me feel like my choice isn't being respected," student Caitlin Wiscombe told Campus Reform.

Student Tyler Hertwig added to the outlet that "it's unreasonable to expect the 99.99% to compromise for the 0.01%."

"We live in a place where we have the opportunity to meet at least one person a day if we choose to give them our time," Hertwig also told Campus Reform. "Out of the thousands of people you've met in your life, how many times have you asked for their gender versus ... their name?"

"To expect people to completely rewire how they interact with others is nuts. All for what, that 1 in 50 million chance of them possibly running into someone that's 'not' a male or female," he added to the outlet.

Challenge back

But McDermott told Campus Reform of his message to students who "do not believe in these rights covered under [the] non-discrimination policy."

"I, of course, respect the beliefs of others and their right to express those beliefs," he noted to the outlet, "but those beliefs, no matter what they are, cannot impede or harm the rights of others, in this case the right of a student to be respected in their use of their preferred name and pronouns."

McDermott addd to Campus Reform that "this is a fundamental belief not only I and Point Park University share (imagine that), but also the United States Constitution asserts."

Here's another college's perspective on the issue:

What is the preferred gender pronoun movement?youtu.be

College founded to 'promote the cause of Christ' defends hosting 'White Citizenship as Terrorism' event



Berea College — a private liberal arts college in Kentucky that says it's "still firmly rooted in its historic purpose," which is "to promote the cause of Christ" — is hosting an event next Wednesday titled, "White Citizenship as Terrorism: Make America Great Again, Again."

What are the details?

The event — sponsored by the Women's and Gender Non-Conforming Center at Berea — will feature a Zoom presentation from Amy Brandzel.

The latter notice regarding the event reads:

"Despite the calls for multiculturalism, the presentation and color-blindness, segments of white America mourn their so-called loss of privilege, consistently begging to return to the nostalgic past in which their esteemed value as white citizens went unquestioned. Trump's 'Make America Great Again' appears to follow suit by offering a seemingly benign promise to return America to a previously 'great' past. But the offer to 'Make America Great Again, Again,' requires we refocus on how the last four years of daily tweets and administrative actions redefine whiteness. If terrorism is defined as the use of violence and threats to create a state of fear towards [sic] particular communities and identities, then this is what 'Trumpism' is at its core. The talk offers to resuscitate Trumpism and white citizenship as forms of white terrorism enacted against the majority of people living within the borders of the U.S. and beyond."

It wasn't immediately apparent that Berea College or the campus organization sponsoring the event described who Brandzel is, but the Federalist noted she's an assistant professor of women studies at the University of New Mexico and author of "Against Citizenship: The Violence of the Normative."

The outlet added that Brandzel's book proposes that "citizenship is a violent dehumanizing mechanism that makes the comparative devaluing of human lives see," and that "citizenship requires anti-intersectionality, that is, strategies that deny the mutuality and contingency of race, class, gender, sexuality and nation…"

Pushback and a defense

After word got out regarding the "White Citizenship as Terrorism" event and some pushback was felt, Berea College posted a statement defending the event. The school also quoted its motto — "God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth" — which is based on Acts 17:26:

"A planned event by the Women's and Gender Non-Conforming Center at Berea College has attracted a great deal of attention on social media, and resulted in several emails from concerned persons. To some, the provocative title of the event implies that Berea is not a welcoming place for individuals with differing political views. That is not true. At Berea, we strive to live out our motto: God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth. Berea accepts students of all faiths (or none at all), religious beliefs, ethnicities and political leanings, creating a diverse environment that encourages acceptance, respect and even appreciation across our differences.

"We encourage open dialog on difficult topics. Racism and white nationalism have been topics of great debate over the past five years. The event planned for next week seeks to confront aspects of the political spectrum that relate to the difficult topic of race in America. While that may cause discomfort, it is a valid and important conversation in this time of political and racial division. It is our hope that these types of conversations will occur across the country. Open, honest dialogue is essential to understanding racism and moving toward an anti-racist society."

The Women's and Gender Non-Conforming Center issued a statement, as well:

"We are grateful to President Lyle Roelofs, Interim Provosts Scott Steele and Steve Gowler, Dean Matthew Saderholm, Associate Vice President for Marketing and Communications Kim Brown, and Director of Publications and Media Relations Abbie Darst for this statement in support of our Gender Talk next week about the white terrorism that claims to make America great again (again). Be sure to tune in!"

Anything else?

Berea College notes on its website that it was "founded by ardent abolitionists and radical reformers" and wants staff and students to "work toward both personal goals and a vision of a world shaped by Christian values, such as the power of love over hate, human dignity and equality, and peace with justice."

The school's website also stated that it "stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and those peacefully demonstrating against police brutality across the country and around the world. As the first interracial and coeducational college in the slaveholding South in 1855, this moment calls for our support. Our history and our commitments demand it."

(H/T: Young America's Foundation)

Christ studied as gender 'nonbinary' in 'Radical Jesus' college course — but conservative theologian takes issue with that view



At famously left-wing, progressive Swarthmore College — an elite Pennsylvania school where pro-Palestinian students once demanded a ban on a hummus brand due to its alleged ties to Israel — a course is being taught that examines Jesus as gender "nonbinary."

What are the details?

"Radical Jesus" is listed on the school's website as an introductory religion course. The professor who teaches it is Mark Wallace. A Swarthmore article about his recent book "When God Was a Bird: Christianity, Animism, and the Re-Enchantment of the World" indicates Wallace considers his Christian animism a "baseline sensibility" — and that he applies it to his "Radical Jesus" course, in which he "leads sessions on Jesus as an animist, alongside examinations of Jesus as a political revolutionary and nonbinary in a gender sense."

The Swarthmore article added that Wallace views Christianity as "an Earth-based spirituality — including holy plants, sacred animals, and hallowed landscapes — not [as] an otherworldly, heaven-bound religion."

"There you'll see a rich environmental ethic, not a religion about a God who is distant and abstract and invisible, up there in the sky somewhere," he said in the piece. "It's a way of rethinking Christianity as a way of life, consistent with the cultures and spiritualities of Indigenous peoples."

Campus Reform asked Wallace for further details on the notion of Jesus as gender "nonbinary," and the outlet said he replied that "gender is fluid or socially constructed" and also sent Campus Reform his "Radical Jesus" syllabus, in which he instructs students to "learn to identify oneself and others according to preferred pronouns" since the practice "shows respect for others, as does the willingness to experiment with gender-nonconforming language for terms such as 'God' or 'the sacred.'"

Indeed, the "Radical Jesus" syllabus indicates the course's first session is titled, "Confused? Jesus offers clarity — or do they?" as opposed to "does he." And the week 3 session is focused on the "nonbinary Jesus."

The outlet also said Wallace pointed to a passage in fifth chapter of the Gospel of Mark regarding a bleeding woman who touches Christ's garment and is healed. Campus Reform said Wallace insisted the power that flowed from Jesus was an "internal flow" reacting to the woman's touch.

"Jesus is female-like because he flows or leaks," Wallace explained, according to the outlet. "We can say, then, that Jesus is gender-nonconforming, doubly-gendered, or not traditionally male in these and other passages." Campus Reform also said Wallace referenced Matthew 19:12, in which Jesus says some men have "made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven."

Pushback

Campus Reform noted that it asked Darrell Bock — Dallas Theological Seminary's senior research professor of New Testament Studies — about Wallace's claims, and the outlet said Bock contested them.

As for the bleeding woman, Bock agreed with Wallace that "the thing that 'flowed' was [Jesus'] power" but that it "had nothing to do with His gender but His access to the power of God," the outlet noted

Bock added to the outlet in reference to the "eunuch" verse in Matthew that Christ was using a "figure of speech here. It is not making themselves literally a eunuch, but accepting celibacy as a way to be dedicated to the kingdom."

Campus Reform said it contacted Swarthmore for comment but did not receive a response.

Anything else?

Swarthmore also offers other religion courses along the lines of "Radical Jesus," including "Is God a White Supremacist?" and "The Queer Bible."

'Lifelong liberal' resigns from woke women's college for its 'racially hostile environment' where whites allegedly are attacked



Readers of TheBlaze might recall a racially charged dust-up a couple of years back at Smith College — a prestigious all-women's school in Massachusetts — in which a black student accused an employee of racism. But even though an investigator the college hired found that the charges were unfounded, Smith still reacted with wringing hands.

The school's president, for starters, called the student to apologize and then placed the employee on administrative leave, the New York Post reported, citing the New York Times. The Post in a separate piece said staff members soon were "forced to take 'anti­racist' training, and some employees [were] tarred as bigots."

Later the school began requiring campus police to gather information about callers who report suspicious persons and tell their superiors if they believe such calls involve racial bias.

But that was just for starters.

'Lifelong liberal' employee blows the whistle

Jodi Shaw was a Smith College employee at the time of the latter incident, but even though she wasn't involved in it, the school's resulting actions disturbed her.

Shaw went public last fall with a video calling out the school. It's titled, "Dear Smith College: I Have a Few Requests":

Dear Smith College: I Have a Few Requests youtu.be

Despite calling herself a "lifelong liberal," Shaw said she felt attacked by the college because of her skin color and was tired of the "extreme intimidation we are all working under in regard to race."

In the clip, she asked Smith to "stop reducing my personhood to a racial category" and to stop asking her to project stereotypes and assumptions on to others based upon their skin color. Other requests:

  • "Stop demanding that I admit to 'white privilege' and work on my so-called 'implicit bias' as a condition of my continued employment."
  • "Stop telling me that as a white person I'm especially responsible for doing the work of dismantling racism."
  • "Stop emboldening students to act abusively toward staff by refusing to hold them accountable for their own egregious behavior."
  • "Lastly, we have the right to work in an environment free from the ever-present terror that any unverified student allegation of racism — or any other 'ism' — has the power to crush our reputations, ruin our livelihood, and even endanger the physical safety of ourselves or our family members."

What happened next?

Shaw resigned last week after a monthslong standoff with Smith College, Fox News reported, adding that Shaw cited Smith's "racially hostile environment" as a reason for leaving.

Her resignation letter was published by former New York Times writer Bari Weiss, who herself resigned from the paper last summer after enduring "constant bullying from colleagues" because she pushed against the paper's leftism.

Shaw wrote that she "endured meetings in which another staff member violently banged his fist on the table, chanting 'Rich, white women! Rich, white women!' in reference to Smith alumnae. I listened to my supervisor openly name preferred racial quotas for job openings in our department. I was given supplemental literature in which the world's population was reduced to two categories — 'dominant group members' and 'subordinated group members' — based solely on characteristics like race."

Fox News reported that a Monday post on Shaw's website said she could no longer tolerate the impact working at Smith was having on her mental health and that she had turned down a "generous settlement" from the university that would have "required confidentiality."

Shaw added that she had offered to accept a severance only if Smith would take steps to end its "mandatory race-based struggle sessions and their requirements that employees judge each other and the students in our care on the basis of their skin color."

More from the network:

According to Shaw, when Smith said they would not consider the changes, she then had to consider how she could "do the most good for this cause" and acknowledged that the "importance of telling the truth" was not worth the price.

"I knew this was going to be an ugly process, and I'm sure this is not the last attempt Smith will make to discredit me. It seems that facts do not matter to Smith; what matters to Smith is its commitment to destructive race-based policies," she concluded. "I look forward to seeing Smith in court."

Shaw's statement came on the heels of a second letter from McCartney in which she "flatly denies" Shaw's "baseless" claims -- though not referring to Shaw by name -- and says Shaw's resignation letter "contains a number of misstatements about the college's equity and inclusion initiatives."

"The employee suggests that Smith tried to buy her silence. But it was the employee herself who demanded payment of an exceptionally large sum in exchange for dropping a threatened legal claim and agreeing to standard confidentiality provisions," McCartney asserted. "Further, while the employee aims her complaint at Smith, her public communications make clear that her grievances about equity and inclusion training run more broadly..."

Anything else?

Fox News reported that Stacey Schmeidel, Smith College's senior director for news and strategic communication, said Smith "stands behind President McCartney's response. Beyond that, we do not comment on potential or pending litigation."

More from the network:

To date, Shaw has raised more than $214,000 on a GoFundMe page she said will be used to help both her and others in similar situations with legal and living expenses -- placing any amount over $150,000 in an escrow account.

On Saturday, Shaw tweeted that her GoFundMe page was placed "under review" and that there was a hold on all funds that she feared was "for ideological reasons."

However, the GoFundMe page is now back online and the crowdfunding platform told Fox News on Tuesday that the funds would be released to Shaw and that their Trust & Safety Team had been in contact with her.