Professor Files Lawsuit After College Forces Him To Conform To Woke Agenda

An outrageous story of discrimination from Penn State University at Abington is another example of the growing trend of left-wing activists attempting to push their own political agenda on college campuses.

Zack De Piero, a former English professor, has filed a lawsuit against the school after he was told by a college official that “There is a problem with the white race.”

His lawsuit claims that the university discriminated against him and violated his free speech rights when he complained about the school’s “race-based dogma and discrimination.”

The Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR) represents De Piero in this case and they allege that he was forced to attend “antiracist” workshops for complaining about racial insults directed at white staff.

Not only did De Piero receive this treatment for simply voicing his opinion but it gets worse. He was also allegedly instructed to ignore poor academic performances from black and Hispanic students for “social justice” purposes as well as being told to “penalize” some students’ scores to “equalize outcomes on the basis of race.”

FAIR says that he was also told to “penalize” some students’ scores to “equalize outcomes on the basis of race.”

“The logic of defendants’ demands required that DePiero also penalize students academically on the basis of race,” the suit alleges. “If, for example, students from East Asia or the Indian subcontinent excelled over other minority groups (who often had the same, if not lighter skin color), DePiero was asked to penalize them in order to equalize outcomes on the basis of race.”

The complaint alleges, “Following the tragic murder of George Floyd in May 2020, the defendants’ ‘antiracist’ activism reached a new fever pitch.” His lawsuit cites emails from later that year, where defendants allegedly wrote that white employees should ‘Stop talking’ and directed writing faculty members to ‘assure that all students see that white supremacy manifests itself in language and in writing pedagogy.’”

“Penn State’s bizarre brand of ‘antiracism,’” the suit says, “condemns qualities like ‘objectivity’ as ‘white supremacy,’ and purports to celebrate people of color for being incapable of objective thought. The common denominator at Penn State and among all defendants is the promotion of pejorative stereotypes on the basis of race, which have created a hostile environment not only for DePiero but for all faculty and students.”

“The institutional intolerance that has become so prevalent in the academic space is extremely concerning to us and, you know, we want to champion someone like Zack, who has taken the brave and courageous step to stand up for his rights — and that translates to honoring the rights of his students to engage with … and receive the benefits from a full academic experience,” FAIR legal advocacy managing director Leigh Ann O’Neill told Inside Higher Ed.

A Penn State system spokeswoman told the outlet that “Penn State does not generally comment on pending litigation” and that the university “has repeatedly affirmed its active and ongoing commitment to diversity and equity, and made clear its goal to create an inclusive and respectful environment in which to live, work and study.”

It doesn’t end there either. One of the training videos the professor was forced to watch was called “White Teachers Are a Problem in addition, following George Floyd’s death in May 2020, emails were sent out demanding white employees should ‘stop talking’ while writing faculty members were asked to ‘assure that all students see that white supremacy manifests itself in language and in writing pedagogy.’

Despite these accusations, however, Penn State refuses to comment on pending litigation due to its supposed commitment to creating an inclusive environment where people can live, work, and study without fear or judgment.