Incidents at Stanford, SFSU prove need for accountability in higher ed, watchdog says

The latest incidents at Stanford Law School and San Franciso State University (SFSU) show that higher education officials and students are not held accountable for either free speech violations or even violent attacks. 

But President of Accuracy in Media (AIM) Adam Guillette is working to change that. 

Earlier this month, Riley Gaines was assaulted at San Francisco State University by leftist protesters aiming to stop her speech on “Protecting Women’s Sports.”

Videos of the attack were released on Twitter: 

Riley Gaines has been escorted out of the event into a side hallway in the HSS Building. Students were following through “trans women are women” 8:31 p.m pic.twitter.com/rGaTvrje17

— Golden Gate Xpress (@GGXnews) April 7, 2023

Many students, however, justified the assault, as seen in Guillette’s recent street interviews with students at the San Fransico campus.

NEW: SFSU students DOUBLE DOWN on Riley Gaines assault. pic.twitter.com/BNudmZmuD6

— Accuracy In Media (@AccuracyInMedia) April 27, 2023

“Good that she got assaulted,” one student said. “I, honestly, really don’t care” about the incident another responded. 

Another male student alluded that Gaines was asking for it. 

The assault against Gaines sprung Guillette into action, issuing a billboard campaign at State University of New York at Buffalo, where Gaines gave a speech on women’s sports just days after the assault in California.  

The billboards warned students to act civilly during her speech, as images show:

The billboard campaign was successful at preventing leftist students from lashing out in New York, Guillette told Campus Reform. But holding university administrators accountable is a different story. 

In another California upset, Judge Kyle Duncan’s discussion on “Guns, Covid and Twitter” at Stanford Law School was interrupted by leftist protesters and Tirien Steinbach, the university’s Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).

Video of the incident was published to Vimeo: 

Steinbach told the New York Times that her “role was to de-escalate,” but Guillette says “the best way for the dean to de-escalate the situation would be for her to leave the university and for the university to eliminate her position.”

While she told the Times that she was attempting to be balanced, Steinbach told Duncan, “Your work has caused harm.”

She also encouraged students to place their protest signs at the front of the room, where they would be visible to the judge, revealing her partisan approach. 

[RELATED: Stanford admins hijack US judge’s speech, tell students to keep quiet about it]

But there is “not a chance” of Steinbach resigning, Guillette continued. 

“Higher education is out of control … [DEI] is hateful, divisive rhetoric, hidden under the guise of compassion.” 

“As we saw in California ... [DEI] is neither compassionate nor loving, it’s nothing but hate.” 

Campus Reform spoke with the media watchdog president previously about this incident, where he said his response to the dean’s actions was “moral outrage:” 

But his latest discussions with Campus Reform have not been his first calls for accountability. 

At the end of March, for example, AIM sent mobile billboards to Stanford’s campus, each including a picture of the dean and reading, “Tirien Steinbach uses fascist tactics to bully others. Stanford, stand up for REAL inclusivity.” 

While the campaign seemingly had no effect on university administrators at Stanford, mobile billboard campaigns are proving to have an effect on students – an effect that Guillette is proud of. 

[RELATED: Charlie Kirk threatens legal action against UC Davis Chancellor for slander]

“If that’s what it takes. If we have to go after every one of these cry bullies that threaten people who speak on their campus, we’ll do it,” he concluded. “Students deserve a welcoming environment. They don’t deserve to be bullied by radical fascists.” 

Follow Jared Gould on Twitter.