The president of Evergreen State College, the site of high-profile May protests, complained about “neo-con and white supremacist hate mail” and criticized himself for believing in a “post-racial society” in emails to faculty uncovered Wednesday.
President George Bridges made these comments and others in late May and early June, reported The College Fix, which obtained 900 pages of documents from the college in a public records act request.
“I have never before experienced the withering assault of neo‐con and white supremacist hate mail and voice mail messages,” said Bridges in a June 3 email to Robert Crutchfield, a University of Washington professor alongside whom Bridges used to teach. “And witnessing the cruel side of social media use first hand has proven sobering. How foolish of me to even imagine a post‐racial society!”
The president told his former colleague that he was “OK” in the email, which he sent following the first June day of several in which the school closed due to threats.
Bridges explained to Crutchfield that some view him as an “authoritarian” figure ordering faculty what to do only to help students of color, some see him as someone challenging the college to adapt to increased diversity, and some apparently deem him the “Shaun [sic] Spicer of student protesters.”
Bridges also addressed the effort to defund Evergreen of state appropriations, referencing Washington state lawmakers “who choose to attack the school and me for ‘capitulating’ to demands by students” and stating that he was now “working the aisles.” (RELATED: Lawmakers Want To Privatize Evergreen State, Plan Civil Rights Investigation Over Day Without Whites)
“My only request is that if questions arise about Evergreen from legislators that you pass on a positive word if you are so inclined,” said the president in a May 31 email to Washington state’s public college presidents.
The May protests at Evergreen included student backlash to professor Bret Weinstein’s refusal to partake in a Day of Absence in which students would racially segregate themselves. (RELATED: Evergreen State Protesters Demand No Homework, College President Hurries To Oblige)
The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to Evergreen for comment, but received none in time for publication.
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