DePaul prof deems free speech ‘delusional’ while resigning over Milo event
A professor of sociology at DePaul University reportedly resigned publicly Friday, declaring free speech “delusional” in response to the explosive incident at Milo Yiannopoulos’ event Tuesday night.
The Daily Caller reports that Dr. Shu-Ju “Ada” Cheng criticized the university for “reinforcing . . . inequalities and dominant ideologies” while also blasting free speech and mocking the idea of a “neutral” approach to the issue.
Declaring herself “a woman of color faculty,” Cheng posted a lengthy explanation on her Facebook page in which she cited an email she supposedly sent to DePaul University President Rev. Dennis Holtschneider. In the post, she condemns the university for inequality and racism, declaring that “[t]he long history of exiting faculty of color is a longstanding indication.”
Cheng insists that universities “are not neutral platforms,” due to social and racial inequalities that allegedly exist within the institution, and goes on to say that the “‘equal’ exchanges of ideas, the so-called free speech rooted in the market ideology, is delusional.
“[T]hese past two days are just symptoms of the historical institutional racism embedded in this institution,” she writes, briefly referencing the events that took place on Tuesday in which DePaul security guards were allegedly ordered not to intervene when Milo Yiannopoulos was threatened by violent protesters.
[RELATED: Security fiddles while @Nero event burns]
Many conservatives are criticizing university administrators for their mishandling of the incident, which they call a suppression of speech, but Cheng takes a different approach, accusing Holtschneider of “a lack of moral courage in the disguise of intellectual objectivity and positional neutrality” after he issued a feeble apology to the DePaul College Republicans, who organized and financed the event. However, the president did not apologize to Yiannopoulos directly, insteading devoting much of the missive to criticizing many of Yiannopoulos’ recent statements and political views.
[RELATED: Milo demands DePaul refund security cash after guards did nothing]
Nonetheless, Cheng admonishes Holtschneider for failing to take a position, saying, “The lack of a position is a position, and your chosen position is to reinforce the existing inequalities. Shame on you. I am glad I will no longer be part of this institution and be complicit in the institutional practices that support our racist society.”
The original post has since been deleted from Facebook, and university spokespersons have neither confirmed nor denied the authenticity of Cheng’s supposed resignation.
Yiannopoulos, though, reacted jubilantly to the report, remarking to TheDC, “One down, the rest of the American educational establishment to go.”
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @jelawrence72
