Conservative student shamed for criticizing diversity course
A University of Wisconsin at Superior student was threatened with violence on Facebook for publishing a story about the institution’s most “wasteful” courses.
Student Jessica Murphy, working as intern at Wisconsin’s MacIver Institute, exposed five of the most “wasteful” classes offered in the University of Wisconsin System in a May 22 article, highlighting one course known as “Teaching for Social Justice” taught at the state’s Superior campus.
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“One of the main goals of the course is for students to reflect on their privilege and marginalization. Students also review how meritocracy—and the American Dream—is a myth,” Murphy explained in her article, noting that all five courses contained themes that “degrade capitalism, praise Marxism, and encourage a ‘social justice warrior’ ideology.”
In response, however, Professor Sarah LaChance Adams, who teaches UW-Superior’s “Teaching for Social Justice” course, posted the article to her Facebook, writing “check it out comrades” as several of her colleagues and friends responded by mocking Murphy and offering to “punch her in the face.”
“I could punch her in the face for you. I can be an academic and respect my upbringing from the barrio,” commented Brandy Rose Farrow, who appears to be a student at UW-Superior.
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Another of LaChance Adams’ friends, Professor Chad Kautzer of Lehigh University, posted a screenshot of Murphy’s LinkedIn profile, pointing on that “she’s South African.”
“Keeping up old traditions?” he went on to ask, suggesting Murphy had a role in Apartheid because she lived in South Africa for the first two years of her life, with another commenter indicating that she “would not be surprised to learn that [Murphy] targeted [LaChance Adams] purposely,” though Murphy attends the Wisconsin System’s Green Bay campus, not the Superior campus where LaChance Adams teaches.
According to The College Fix, LaChance Adams liked all of the aforementioned comments, though the post has since been made private.
While Murphy told Campus Reform that she supports “everyone’s right to free speech to post what they want on social media,” she “just found it inappropriate and unprofessional for a professor of the UW System to entertain suggestions of violence towards a UW student.”
Murphy explained that her article was “not intended as a personal attack towards any professors,” as some of LaChance Adams’ friends seemed to interpret it, but was simply published in an effort “to keep taxpayers informed.”
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“The UW System as a taxpayer-funded entity should be held accountable for questionable courses and the purpose of this piece was to further this discussion,” she explained, drawing attention to the irony of the fact that the university “hasn’t made a comment about a UW professor who condoned racist comments and suggestions of violence towards a student” even though her article was about courses that promote diversity and tolerance within the UW System.
“Rather than encouraging a critical discussion of the piece and its contents, the people on the professor's post resorted to personal attacks,” she continued. “While I appreciate constructive feedback, I find it immature that they chose to attack a 20-year-old intern.”
Campus Reform reached out to LaChance Adams for comment on the matter, and she responded by contesting Murphy’s characterization of the Facebook exchange, saying she never has “and never would entertain suggestions of violence towards a student or anyone else.”
Notably, LaChance Adams has since stated that she turned down an interview with Tucker Carlson Tonight, saying “not for [a] second did I consider it.”
“I am definitely not doing this,” she reiterated in the comments section. “I don’t see any scenario in which this goes well for me.”
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @AGockowski
