Event at USU draws outrage from the school’s Anti-Racist Solidarity Group
A discussion centered around ‘cultural harms of social justice and identity politics’ at Utah State University sparked controversy Thursday when students from the school’s Anti-Racist Solidarity Group petitioned to protest the discussion.
The event was titled “A Christian and an Atheist unite against the death of intellectual diversity.”
The discussion is part of a Utah university tour featuring speakers Corey Miller and Peter Boghossian. Miller is the founder of Ratio Christi, a college organization that argues for Jesus Christ through philosophy and history. Boghossian is a philosophy professor at Portland State University.
Ratio Christi, which is sponsoring the tour, has a USU chapter headed by student Matthew Markham. Markham said the goal of the event was to suggest all worldviews have a right to be expressed.
“I think it’s important to have these conversations,” Markham said. “It’s important to dialogue with people of different views or beliefs.”
The university’s Anti-Racist Solidarity Group sent a letter to USU President Noelle Cockett asking that, in the future, USU “consider and prioritize student well-being and academic integrity for future forums.
While the letter did not ask Cockett to cancel the event, it did indicate that allowing a speaker like Boghossian on campus in the first place made students feel unsafe and “undermines the work of multicultural and minority students.”
“Boghossian is an individual who has been investigated and proved to have used academia to mislead the academic community with the interest of diminishing fields of studies he disagrees with,” according to an excerpt from the letter. “His actions further marginalized groups that are already vulnerable and historically, systematically discriminated against, which is both unacademic and unethical.”
According to the Atlantic, Boghossian, along with two other scholars, penned 20 fake research papers in 2018 to prove academic journals will publish anything that aligns with their political ideologies. Areas targeted include gender studies, queer studies and fat studies.
For example, one research paper claimed to have studied “dog rape,” and stated dogs suffer oppression based on perceived gender.
Boghossian was disciplined by PSU. According to a letter attached to his Twitter account, Boghossian was banned by PSU from engaging in human-subject related research and forbade him from engaging in any sponsored research as the principal investigator.
USU Associate Vice President of Communications Tim Vitale said Cockett met with students from the group and issued a response to their letter.
“I am personally committed to fostering an inclusive campus where everyone feels safe and feels they are an important part of our Aggie family,” Cockett wrote. “In keeping with the First Amendment, USU does not censor speakers or ideas.”
She added that USU provides broad-scope support, programming and funding for events that reflect the university’s firm commitment to be an inclusive campus.
Cockett also said she and the university support the Anti-Racist Solidarity Group.
Representatives from the group could not be reached for comment. The petition from the group is no longer available online, and how many signatures were gathered for the letter is unclear.
The event, though sparsely attended, went ahead as planned.
“What happens at a university does not stay at a university,” Miller said. “What happens upstream at a university always goes downstream into the culture. When it comes to a topic like this, it’s difficult. I understand why people may be a bit apprehensive or even feel unsafe.”
However, Miller said the term “social justice” is often used in bad faith, and its values should be questioned.
Boghossian said he is confident the ideology surrounding social justice and identity politics will burn itself out.
“If you do not know the arguments against your position, not only do you not know the arguments, you do not even know your own position,” he said.
Ratio Christi is currently in the process of establishing meeting times and a leadership team. Markham said they hope to do more events like this in the future.
@cripe_taylor