CUNY cuts class calling for ‘Abolition of Whiteness’

Hunter College in New York City appears to have quietly scrapped a course exploring the link between “whiteness” and “violence” after widespread controversy. 

The course, “Abolition of Whiteness,” was taught in Fall 2016 and Fall 2017 by professor Jennifer Gaboury, the Associate Director of the Women and Gender Studies Program at Hunter College, as Campus Reform reported in May 2017. 

Following Campus Reform’s report, numerous outlets covered the class including The Daily Signal, Fox News, AOL, PJ Media, The American Spectator, The American Enterprise Institute, The Daily Caller, and others. 

[RELATED: UMN hosting prof to lecture on ‘the violence of whiteness’]

“We’ll be examining how whiteness—and/or white supremacy and violence—is intertwined with conceptions of gender, race, sexuality, class, body ability, nationality, and age,” noted the initial course description.

Students who took the course earned 3 academic credits, which they could apply toward a political science major.

However, following Campus Reform’s initial report, Hunter College will not be offering the class next semester. Though the institution didn’t release a statement on the class, the Hunter College Fall 2018 course schedule indicates the class is no longer being offered. 

The websites for both the Gender and Women’s Studies program at Hunter, as well as the Political Science department, under which the course was cross-listed last year, have scrubbed all references to the course on their websites, as well. 

[RELATED: Lawmakers demand UW cancel ‘Problem of Whiteness’ course]

Instead, the professor who taught “Abolition of Whiteness,” Jennifer Gaboury, is now teaching internship and independent research classes for juniors and seniors, according to the CUNY registrar.

Nevertheless, the school’s Women’s Studies department still offers a number of courses next semester, including ones such as “Feminist Theater,” “Sex and Gender Roles,” “Prison Human Rights and Gender,” and “Transgender Poetry.” 

With such course offerings, the Women’s Studies department boasts that its program equips students to find work in a number of fields, including as a musician, an artist, or a paralegal. 

Campus Reform reached out to CUNY-Hunter repeatedly for comment, but did not receive a response. Gaboury also did not respond. 

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @Toni_Airaksinen