This is a response to the Faculty Association letter to the editor regarding the Amala Ekpunobi event.  The letter claims that there are faculty, and perhaps students, who will not feel safe on campus the day that Amala speaks, because she has expressed, in the past, points of view that challenge their assumptions and beliefs (specifically regarding systemic racism and gender discrimination).  I can personally testify that the times I have encountered ideas on campus with which I disagree were horrifying.  I barely survived.

So, I congratulate the Faculty Association on this courageous resolution.  I can think of nothing more dangerous or terrifying than a young woman of color presenting “unapproved” ideas and challenging the sacred assumptions of the current zeitgeist.  This event will send the confusing message to our students that women and people of color are a diverse group of individuals who do not think monolithically.  It might even embolden our students to entertain their own ideas and draw conclusions not approved by the Faculty Senate!  That possibility alone should make us all shudder.

I’m heartened, therefore, to see that the WSUFA is dutifully warning the public and helping to make our “community of learners” a safer place for us who might otherwise be irreparably damaged by such a reckless and unbridled exposure to intellectual diversity!

Barry Peratt