FAIR News: Professor Stands Up Against Penn State's Discrimination
FAIR News: Professor Stands Up Against Penn State's Discrimination
Newsletter
Dear Friends of FAIR,
Professor Zack De Piero began working at Pennsylvania State University in August of 2018 in the English department at the Abington campus. Almost immediately upon the outset of his employment, Professor De Piero noticed a race-essentialism focus, which he feared would be harmful to his students, a majority of which were from minority backgrounds and ethnicities.
Professor De Piero was required to attend professional development meetings to view videos such as “White Teachers Are a Problem”, and was directed to “assure that all students see that white supremacy manifests itself in language and in writing pedagogy.” Incidents like these made it clear that Penn State harbored a bias against him based on his skin color. So he took the prescribed course of action and filed a bias report. The Penn State Affirmative Action Office quickly called Professor De Piero into a Zoom meeting where its Associate Director informed him that, “There is a problem with the White race” then directed him to continue attending antiracist workshops “until you get it.”
It became impossible for Professor De Piero to effectively perform his job duties. In August 2021, he was forced to leave a job he had prized and students he cared for deeply.
On June 15th Professor De Piero filed suit against Penn State in federal court alleging violations of his civil rights under federal and Pennsylvania law. Professor De Piero is represented by FAIR Network Attorneys Michael Allen and Samantha Harris of Allen Harris Law. For more information on Dr. De Piero's case, you can read his complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, on our website here.
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Warmly,
The Team at the Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism
Blue Sky White Stars by Sarvinder Naberhaus Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
This richly illustrated, sparse-text picture book weaves together poetic language to celebrate theAmerican flag and explore what it means to be an American.
FAIR’s literature guides emphasize pro-human values and support literacy development. Designed for use with elementary-age students, each guide features a high-quality picture book, with discussion questions and activities aligned with FAIR’s Pro-Human Learning Standards.
Affirmative Action Supreme Court Decision Roundtable Discussion
Join us tonight, Thursday, June 29th at 6pm EST, for a roundtable discussion featuring panelists Ilya Shapiro, Wilfred Reilly, and Wai Wah Chin, moderated by our very own Maud Maron, where we will break down the ruling and discuss the important questions and changes that undoubtedly are just around the corner.
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Understanding Gender Modification Laws in Missouri
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Does Implicit Bias Training Help Anyone? With Dr. Chris Ferguson
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DEI Trends in Education: What’s Happening & How To Respond
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Zack de Piero courageously stood up for truth--and against this terrible form of racism called "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion."
I am taking a break from my post-baccalaureate studies at Portland State University (PSU) in woke Portland, Oregon. FAIR's report on Professor Zack De Piero's civil rights lawsuit against his employer, Penn State, has inspired me to write the following opinion piece about Portland State.
Stephen Percy, the outgoing president of the university, is a generic-looking middle-aged white guy, but inside that white-bread exterior lives a passionate social-justice warrior you'd expect to look like Che Guevarra or his San Francisco counterpart, the erstwhile district attorney Chesa Boudin. At least that's my opinion on the subject. Others may disagree.
A few years ago, Percy sent a campus-wide email in which he declared:
"My highest priority is sustaining and amplifying our commitment to racial justice.”
You can read a take on Percy's statement here: https://redstate.com/alexparker/2021/01/05/portland-university-stephen-percy-n305028
Indeed, the web page of the Office of President Stephen Percy lists the following as first among the school's strategic priorities:
"Acting on Equity and Racial Justice. We are fighting racism and advancing social justice across our campus by applying an antiracist lens to everything we do, measuring our progress and holding each other to account. We are taking steps to ensure success for all students, more equitable working conditions and an environment where people feel safe, belong, and prosper."
As a student who is, among many other things, gay, I am alarmed and dismayed by the radicalization at the school's official center for what used to be called sexual minorities.
You see, Portland State University's Queer Resource Center (QRC) recognizes only two types of students: Queer and Trans. The words "gay" and "lesbian" do not appear in the Queer Resource Center's mission statement. In fact, unless my repeated searches missed it, "gay" appears on the QRC's site only when citing unaffiliated outside organizations' use of the word.
As if that weren't bad enough, the Queer Resource Center's politics are stridently woke. It is expected that a good Portland State University queer will model the values of diversity, inclusion, equity and anti-racism. Its activities calendar is a festival of intersectional racial, ethnic and gender identity group culture. If you're BIPOC and trans, well, the Queer Resource Center is your home away from home. You’ll look in vain for a gay men’s board game night.
When I complained to the Queer Resource Center about its erasure of gay men, lesbians and bisexuals, the reply as good as admitted that the queer hegemony was intentional. In any case, they added, everyone there was fine with it. If I didn't like it, why, I could click a helpful link to a complaint form.
It is deplorable that PSU’s only official organization for what used to be known as sexual minorities does not recognize or accommodate the university's mainstream gay, lesbian and bisexual students.
That the QRC has so thoroughly embraced the leftist ideology of wokeness is unconscionable. It's as if PSU's French club expected students to support the ideology of Marine Le Pen and organized its programming around it.
Anyone wishing to learn more about Portland State University's Queer Resource Center can visit its site by clicking on this link: https://www.pdx.edu/queer-resource-center/
Turning to PSU's Twitter stream, like any other institution of higher learning, PSU often includes photos of students and faculty in its tweets. Having been looking at PSUs tweets for several years, it is my clear impression that white men are grossly underrepresented in PSU's tweets in relation to their percentage of student population. https://twitter.com/Portland_State
Finally, of the eight speakers at the 2023 commencement ceremonies, not a single one was a white male. https://www.pdx.edu/commencement/student-speakers
Portland State University's motto is "Let knowledge serve the city." To this, it might be appropriate to add Ibram X. Kendi's infamous proclamation that: "The Only Remedy to Past Discrimination Is Present Discrimination."