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June 17, 2019
An Expensive Lesson For Out Of Control Colleges In The U.S. - Oberlin College 'Gets Woke, Goes Broke' After College Switches From Education To Activism And Gets Slammed By A Jury With A $44 Million Lesson
We at ANP have documented the antics going on at college campuses across the nation for years, where social justice warrior activism is not only out of control on the part of the students, but where educators and university administrations have allowed, and in many cases encouraged and joined student-led protests...... activism at the expense of basic education.
Examples include colleges now offering "social justice" courses, giving credits for political activism, allowing students to dictate institutional policy, and in many cases, professors that actively participate in planning and organizing protests and social justice warrior activism.
As with the world of politics these days, any individual thought that does not fit the liberal mindset of the majority of professors and school officials, is received with howls of RACISM, and off and running the students, and some school faculty go to destroy anyone they have a problem with by any means necessary and suffering no consequences for the damage to those innocent of the charge, that were defamed, slandered and ridiculed.
Recently a jury awarded Gibson's Bakery $11 million in damages for being defamed as racist by Oberlin college students and officials, followed up by a whopping $33 million as a punitive reward, in a very expensive lesson about what happens when colleges shift from academics to activism.
The latest controversy began with a shoplifting case. In 2016, an African American student named Jonathan Aladin was caught trying to steal a bottle of wine from Gibsons Bakery, which was established in 1885 and has been closely tied to the college for over a century. When the grandson of the owner tried to stop Aladin, a fight ensued and police were called. Aladin and two other students, Cecilia Whettstone and Endia Lawrence, were arrested. Students, professors, and administrators held protests, charging that the bakery was racist and profiled the three students.
Oberlin maintains in court filings that the son and grandson of the owners of Gibsons Bakery violently and unreasonably attacked an unarmed student, but that is not how the police viewed it. Aladin was charged with robbery, which is a second degree felony, and Whettstone and Lawrence were charged with first degree misdemeanor assault. Police rejected claims of a racial motive and noted that, over a period of five years, 40 adults were arrested for shoplifting at Gibsons Bakery, but only six were African American. It also is not how the court viewed it. When prosecutors cut a plea deal to reduce the charge to attempted theft, a local judge refused. He said the plea deal appeared to be the result of a permanent economic sanction by the college in which the victim had little choice but to relent. Ultimately, all three students pleaded guilty.
The trial lasted for days, so it is impossible to explain all the ins and outs, but the school was held legally accountable for the student protest because of internal communications exposed during the trial as one school official even said at one point she would "unleash the students," and multiple faculty and officials actively participated in the protest.
More from Turley on the context of that comment:
Not all Oberlin faculty members were silent in opposition to the boycott and protests. Theater professor Roger Copeland spoke publicly against the treatment of the bakery, but a livid vice president for communications Ben Jones responded to colleagues in a text message with an expletive against Copeland. Raimondo replied saying she would unleash the students if she was not convinced this needs to be put behind us.
While the college continued to claim their officials were only present to keep an eye on the protest and students for safety purposes, that was directly contradicted by the fact that faculty members were seen handing out flyers for the protest that stated "[Gibsons] is a RACIST establishment with a LONG ACCOUNT of RACIAL PROFILING and DISCRIMINATION," along with other evidence from the trial presented.
BOTTOM LINE - 'COLLEGES ACROSS THE COUNTRY HAVE HEARD YOU'
That quote was fromRachelle Zidar, attorney for Oberlin College, to the Ohio jury, when she said "Ladies and gentlemen, you have spoken. You have sent a profound message. We have heard you. Believe me when I say, 'Colleges across the country have heard you.'"
Let us hope they do hear them loud and clear, because while documenting how out of control college students have become across the nation, we have often noted that it is the school officials either refusing to put their foot down, or actively encouraging a daycare mentality at institutions that are meant to help prepare young women and men for life in the real world, and they are failing spectacularly.
Whether other colleges pay heed to the lesson the Ohio jury just offered, Oberlin apparently has learned nothing as the college remains unapologetic, and the faculty member listed on the lawsuit along with the college is still employed, even after the devastating testimony regarding her actions was exposed.
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