Worth Knowing, Probably Not Quite Threadworthy 5/24

[SVPete]

PROF. ELLWANGER: A fellow professor told her class I was a 'Nazi white supremacist' – my university said 'no foul'

https://www.campusreform.org/article/prof-ellwanger-fellow-professor-told-class-nazi-white-supremacist-university-said-no-foul/29839

Today’s left tosses words like “Nazi,” “Fascist,” and “White supremacist” around like rice at wedding these days. The problem is what they do with Nazis, fascists, and white supremacists. They kill them. Just ask Charlie Kirk. But his death changed nothing on American campuses.

I am a tenured full professor at a public university in Texas. I am also a vocal conservative, frequently writing for right-of-center websites and magazines. Given that some estimates suggest liberals outnumber conservatives in English departments by forty-to-one, it’s safe to say I am never the most popular person in the faculty lounge.
...
In February, a former student informed me that my name had come up in class. The instructor asked students which professors they had the previous semester. When a student named me, the instructor apologized and expressed pity. Confused, students inquired further: Why did the instructor feel bad that someone had taken my course?

Then, the instructor launched into a slanderous tirade. She said that I “hate immigrants,” that I am “crazy in faculty meetings,” and that I’m a “hot mess.” But the main attack was the most damaging slur that exists on campus: she told students that I am a “Nazi white supremacist.”
...
... But I was wrong. I learned that the department chair had approached her to confirm the details I had provided in an informal conversation. The instructor admitted my account was accurate.

When the chair recommended an apology, the instructor dismissively chuckled and refused. A line had to be drawn: I would submit a formal complaint.

As this was not the first unprovoked harassment inflicted upon me by this very instructor, I knew I could establish a pattern of hostility. There was a common theme to her attacks. They all centered on my political orientation, my racial background, and my appearance. A...

Wrong. During my interview with the investigative body at my university, the staff told me the incident probably didn’t qualify as a race-based remark. Anyone of any race or ethnicity, they explained, could internalize the principles of “white supremacy.” I asked them to consider a parallel example: if a professor had referred to a black colleague in class as a “crazy black nationalist,” would they really explain to the black victim that anyone can be a black nationalist, so there was no racial aspect to the comment? For obvious reasons, the staff had no answer.