Recently, I read “In Order to Live” by Yeonmi Park. The book is an autobiography by the young 22-year old, detailing her upbringing in North Korea, her escape, and her eventual refuge in America. She describes that when she was a child, her mother instructed her to censor what she whispers to anyone, anywhere, because the birds and mice would hear her and report what she says to North Korea’s benevolent leader, Kim Jong Il. My Canada and your America are no North Korea, that’s for certain, but when I read about Yeonmi’s childhood lesson, a conversation I had with a friend sprung to mind...
My friend and I were walking through a park, on our way home from our University campus in the fall of 2019. Our conversation ebbed and flowed, as usual. At one point, there was something secretive he wanted to share with me. There was no one in sight, but he glanced around to make sure that no birds or mice were listening. I glanced around too; what could be so secretive? In a hushed voice, he described a documentary he watched about a small American Liberal Arts College, somewhere far, far away, where rebelling students took control of the campus. They held the Administration hostage, and wouldn’t even allow the College President to go pee! They demanded the expulsion of a Racist Professor who dared to challenge the merit of an Equity agenda (Equity, eh?). I said to my friend, “that sounds ridiculous, that story cannot be true.” He insisted it was, and I knew my friend well enough to know that he is not the type of person to embellish a story for dramatic purposes.
BLM riots took centre stage in the spring of 2020. The claims of a Systemically Racist Society were the dominant theme, even here in Canada! Could this be true? Could my understanding of the decades-long march of Western Society towards increasing equality and tolerance be false? I was doubtful. The riots reminded of the unbelievable story my friend shared with me the year before. I asked him, “remind me, what was the name of that College where students held the Administration hostage?” It was the Evergreen College. Watching the Nayna and Boyce documentaries, I realized that the Everwoke meltdown was a harbinger of the BLM riots. More broadly, I began to recognize what social activism in the 21st Century had become: a collectivist mob assault on Western liberal values (Equity, eh?).
In the fall of 2020, I began studies in a graduate program. I became acutely aware of the DEI dogmatism deployed by my University’s Department of Spam E-mails; a constant stream of identitarian and victimhood pandering. Who dare criticize these undeniable subjective truths? Certainly not me. Over the past two years, in every exchange, I have been cognizant that the birds and mice might be listening.
However, through learning about Evergreen, I also discovered the DarkHorse Podcast and the Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century. I am thankful, Heather, for the clarity and candour with which you and Bret tackle contemporary issues. Never stop!
Evergreen's loss is the world's gain. I am a conservative. I appreciate your Substack and the DarkHorse videos. Where I have disagreements with you and Bret I overlook it. You are entitled to your opinions as I am to mine. It is possible that all of us can be broadened by an appreciation of the other's viewpoint.
I do hope you two can get back to teaching at the new University of Austin.
I saw some video somewhere of a protest in San Fransicko. A white Antifa guy punched out the front teeth of a black kid that was trying to pull a white kid who had an opposing view away from danger. Sick scene.
“We believe in law and order. We are not advocating violence. We want to love our enemies.”
“Constructive ends can never give absolute moral justification to destructive means, because in the final analysis the end is preexistent in the mean.” — MLK
BLM has set back so much of what MLK worked and died for. Shameful.
Shocking video account, Heather. Not sure what to say or think about all of it except to say that it induces deep sadness in me to watch young people so angry. I love to follow the stock market and financial news and I'm one of those Bitcoin/Goldbug people that believes much of our societal ills stem from fiscal and monetary policy, especially income inequality. When the divide between well-off and not well-off gets big enough, people start applying their intelligences to figuring out how and why. According to Tim Pool, even at Occupy Wall Street, the racial animosity started boiling over, much to his surprise and chagrin. It's hard to see where these differences are resolved peacefully but I pray they will be.
Heather, You went through a trial, but are in a better place now. For one you and Bret and your kids are still together and form a great partnership. Now you influence orders of magnitude more people. It may not be as fun as field trips to exciting locations with enthusiastic students, but you have a unique voice that is very appreciated. I always thought of myself as an ‘independent’, looking for the good in both sides, but I am constantly repelled the overreach by the left, the censorship and thought control. BLM could not be criticized, but it was intellectually shallow, with no specific aims other than to divide and conquer. It is not a surprise that the founders have misused the funds that they were entrusted with, because they had no plans. Best wishes for many more productive years post-Evergreen.
I'm also a professor in exile. My situation was not as severe as yours at Evergreen, but I was feeling so oppressed by the coddling of students at my university by other professors and administrators that I finally left. I had had a long history in the academy going back as far as the mid 80's, so I knew what it was like to have intellectual freedom as a scholar and teacher. I taught at Xavier University in Cincy for over 10 years and loved the intellectual stimulation and professor-student collaborative environment fostered there. I have always been a demanding but helpful guide on the side. Over the years, students became increasingly demanding such that by the time I left my position at a midwest state university I was ready to take an early retirement. I felt so second-guessed by administrators who themselves were so intimidated by the coddled students that they became student advocates and dictators over faculty. Admins expected professors to tow the student-expectations-line in every domain. Say good-bye to intellectual freedom. I share this because over the years, as I have followed your and Bret's story, I have been impressed by how you have made a silk purse out of that old sow's ear. You make me wish I had a scholar-partner like you do in Bret. My husband is a Lutheran minister, and while we have good convos about many things, I long for intellectual dialogue partner like you have in him and that I used to have in the hallowed hallways of academe. Thanks so much for being terrific role models.
Heather, Thank you for sharing.... In Oct 2020, I was falsely accused and publicly humiliated in a salacious NYT article about the Court of Master Sommeliers. Although, after a yearlong investigation, I was vindicated, the organization refuses to publicly acknowledge the results for "fear of another negative news cycle." While the board gets their pictures taken and discuss all that they have done to “transform” the organization, I continue to be cancelled and harassed. As a yogi, there is only so much mindfulness that can be done… despair slowly creeps back in…. What was the point of my life? 30 plus years of service to others all wiped out by false accusations… The organization I selflessly gave to for 20 years won’t defend me, and the internet is filled defiling stories about me…..It still overwhelms me at times…. I fear the event will change me, steal my faith in the natural goodness of humans. Reading this gives me hope. Seeing how you and Brett survived and have remained true to who you are, is something I needed to hear at this moment. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing with us; I can imagine it might be easier not to revisit such a painful experience. I am both encouraged, because some truly beautiful and good things have come from the wreckage of your former lives, and disheartened, because as you say, it didn't have to be that way. My daughter will graduate from high school next year. I am less enthusiastic each day it seems about the state of higher education, and yet I don't know what else there is for her to do. If I thought she might have even one professor like you or Bret, it would make up for so much, but that also seems less likely than ever. --Sending love and a big hug from MN
Hi Heather. Thanks for that recount of what was clearly a terribly painful experience. I guess the silver lining is that you now reach millions of people, rather than thousands, and that you gained the impetus to not only write your wonderful book, but also have it read by millions too. I've actually just finished writing a novel inspired by your experience, but which also branches out into satirising the entirety of social justice activism, starting in the university and progressing to corporations and then politics. I wonder if you'd be interested in taking a look at it?
Recently, I read “In Order to Live” by Yeonmi Park. The book is an autobiography by the young 22-year old, detailing her upbringing in North Korea, her escape, and her eventual refuge in America. She describes that when she was a child, her mother instructed her to censor what she whispers to anyone, anywhere, because the birds and mice would hear her and report what she says to North Korea’s benevolent leader, Kim Jong Il. My Canada and your America are no North Korea, that’s for certain, but when I read about Yeonmi’s childhood lesson, a conversation I had with a friend sprung to mind...
My friend and I were walking through a park, on our way home from our University campus in the fall of 2019. Our conversation ebbed and flowed, as usual. At one point, there was something secretive he wanted to share with me. There was no one in sight, but he glanced around to make sure that no birds or mice were listening. I glanced around too; what could be so secretive? In a hushed voice, he described a documentary he watched about a small American Liberal Arts College, somewhere far, far away, where rebelling students took control of the campus. They held the Administration hostage, and wouldn’t even allow the College President to go pee! They demanded the expulsion of a Racist Professor who dared to challenge the merit of an Equity agenda (Equity, eh?). I said to my friend, “that sounds ridiculous, that story cannot be true.” He insisted it was, and I knew my friend well enough to know that he is not the type of person to embellish a story for dramatic purposes.
BLM riots took centre stage in the spring of 2020. The claims of a Systemically Racist Society were the dominant theme, even here in Canada! Could this be true? Could my understanding of the decades-long march of Western Society towards increasing equality and tolerance be false? I was doubtful. The riots reminded of the unbelievable story my friend shared with me the year before. I asked him, “remind me, what was the name of that College where students held the Administration hostage?” It was the Evergreen College. Watching the Nayna and Boyce documentaries, I realized that the Everwoke meltdown was a harbinger of the BLM riots. More broadly, I began to recognize what social activism in the 21st Century had become: a collectivist mob assault on Western liberal values (Equity, eh?).
In the fall of 2020, I began studies in a graduate program. I became acutely aware of the DEI dogmatism deployed by my University’s Department of Spam E-mails; a constant stream of identitarian and victimhood pandering. Who dare criticize these undeniable subjective truths? Certainly not me. Over the past two years, in every exchange, I have been cognizant that the birds and mice might be listening.
However, through learning about Evergreen, I also discovered the DarkHorse Podcast and the Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century. I am thankful, Heather, for the clarity and candour with which you and Bret tackle contemporary issues. Never stop!
Evergreen's loss is the world's gain. I am a conservative. I appreciate your Substack and the DarkHorse videos. Where I have disagreements with you and Bret I overlook it. You are entitled to your opinions as I am to mine. It is possible that all of us can be broadened by an appreciation of the other's viewpoint.
I do hope you two can get back to teaching at the new University of Austin.
I saw some video somewhere of a protest in San Fransicko. A white Antifa guy punched out the front teeth of a black kid that was trying to pull a white kid who had an opposing view away from danger. Sick scene.
“We believe in law and order. We are not advocating violence. We want to love our enemies.”
“Constructive ends can never give absolute moral justification to destructive means, because in the final analysis the end is preexistent in the mean.” — MLK
BLM has set back so much of what MLK worked and died for. Shameful.
Shocking video account, Heather. Not sure what to say or think about all of it except to say that it induces deep sadness in me to watch young people so angry. I love to follow the stock market and financial news and I'm one of those Bitcoin/Goldbug people that believes much of our societal ills stem from fiscal and monetary policy, especially income inequality. When the divide between well-off and not well-off gets big enough, people start applying their intelligences to figuring out how and why. According to Tim Pool, even at Occupy Wall Street, the racial animosity started boiling over, much to his surprise and chagrin. It's hard to see where these differences are resolved peacefully but I pray they will be.
Chris M
Heather, You went through a trial, but are in a better place now. For one you and Bret and your kids are still together and form a great partnership. Now you influence orders of magnitude more people. It may not be as fun as field trips to exciting locations with enthusiastic students, but you have a unique voice that is very appreciated. I always thought of myself as an ‘independent’, looking for the good in both sides, but I am constantly repelled the overreach by the left, the censorship and thought control. BLM could not be criticized, but it was intellectually shallow, with no specific aims other than to divide and conquer. It is not a surprise that the founders have misused the funds that they were entrusted with, because they had no plans. Best wishes for many more productive years post-Evergreen.
Heather,
I'm also a professor in exile. My situation was not as severe as yours at Evergreen, but I was feeling so oppressed by the coddling of students at my university by other professors and administrators that I finally left. I had had a long history in the academy going back as far as the mid 80's, so I knew what it was like to have intellectual freedom as a scholar and teacher. I taught at Xavier University in Cincy for over 10 years and loved the intellectual stimulation and professor-student collaborative environment fostered there. I have always been a demanding but helpful guide on the side. Over the years, students became increasingly demanding such that by the time I left my position at a midwest state university I was ready to take an early retirement. I felt so second-guessed by administrators who themselves were so intimidated by the coddled students that they became student advocates and dictators over faculty. Admins expected professors to tow the student-expectations-line in every domain. Say good-bye to intellectual freedom. I share this because over the years, as I have followed your and Bret's story, I have been impressed by how you have made a silk purse out of that old sow's ear. You make me wish I had a scholar-partner like you do in Bret. My husband is a Lutheran minister, and while we have good convos about many things, I long for intellectual dialogue partner like you have in him and that I used to have in the hallowed hallways of academe. Thanks so much for being terrific role models.
Heather, Thank you for sharing.... In Oct 2020, I was falsely accused and publicly humiliated in a salacious NYT article about the Court of Master Sommeliers. Although, after a yearlong investigation, I was vindicated, the organization refuses to publicly acknowledge the results for "fear of another negative news cycle." While the board gets their pictures taken and discuss all that they have done to “transform” the organization, I continue to be cancelled and harassed. As a yogi, there is only so much mindfulness that can be done… despair slowly creeps back in…. What was the point of my life? 30 plus years of service to others all wiped out by false accusations… The organization I selflessly gave to for 20 years won’t defend me, and the internet is filled defiling stories about me…..It still overwhelms me at times…. I fear the event will change me, steal my faith in the natural goodness of humans. Reading this gives me hope. Seeing how you and Brett survived and have remained true to who you are, is something I needed to hear at this moment. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing with us; I can imagine it might be easier not to revisit such a painful experience. I am both encouraged, because some truly beautiful and good things have come from the wreckage of your former lives, and disheartened, because as you say, it didn't have to be that way. My daughter will graduate from high school next year. I am less enthusiastic each day it seems about the state of higher education, and yet I don't know what else there is for her to do. If I thought she might have even one professor like you or Bret, it would make up for so much, but that also seems less likely than ever. --Sending love and a big hug from MN
Hi Heather. Thanks for that recount of what was clearly a terribly painful experience. I guess the silver lining is that you now reach millions of people, rather than thousands, and that you gained the impetus to not only write your wonderful book, but also have it read by millions too. I've actually just finished writing a novel inspired by your experience, but which also branches out into satirising the entirety of social justice activism, starting in the university and progressing to corporations and then politics. I wonder if you'd be interested in taking a look at it?