A couple of weeks ago I told you about Caleb O’Neil, a Trump supporter and a student at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, CA. O’Neil was suspended after the following video, which he took during a class that had nothing to do with politics, went viral:
The prof called the 2017 presidential election an “act of terrorism.” But the kid is the one who got in trouble.
OCC suspended O’Neil for a semester and demanded an apology, but he refused and appealed the decision. And for once, justice has prevailed on a college campus. Priscella Vega, LA Times:
The Coast Community College District board of trustees has directed Orange Coast College to revoke its suspension of a student who secretly video-recorded his human-sexuality professor calling President Trump’s election victory “an act of terrorism.”
The student, Caleb O’Neil, “will continue to attend classes without interruption,” according to a statement released Thursday by Orange Coast College.
They didn’t suspend O’Neil because he did anything wrong. (If this had been a Trump-supporting prof and an anti-Trump student, do you really think the student would be the one in trouble?) They suspended him for embarrassing them. And in the process, they just drew more fire upon themselves. The Streisand effect, I believe it’s called.
I don’t like Trump and I didn’t vote for him, but his win wasn’t an “act of terrorism.” And this kid did the right thing by exposing his nutty professor.
This kind of stuff is happening every day, on campuses across the country. Keep talking about it. And keep talking back to the fascists who want to silence you.
Hat tip to Glenn Reynolds, who notes: “Backlash can be a good thing.”