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Today Reason published a piece by Jesse Singal about an English professor named Elisa Parrett. Parrett teaches at a public technical college outside of Seattle called the Lake Washington Institute of Technology. Last June 19, ... the school held an event called Courageous Conversations which was based partly on Robin DiAngelo’s book White Fragility. The event was mandatory in the sense that the school’s president sent an email asking every professor to attend unless they had a conflict with their teaching schedule. It was also segregated by race, meaning whites in one room and people of color in a separate one.... Parrett decided to write out a statement which she intended to read during the session. ... Jesse Singal got a recording of the entire meeting and here’s his description of what Parrett said.QuoteAbout an hour and 20 minutes in, Parrett said, “Hi, I would like to speak, if I may.†The moderator replied, “Mm-hmm,†indicating that she could go ahead. Parrett then explained that she had noticed something she was hoping to point out to the group and asked if she could have five minutes to read a statement she had prepared. The facilitator didn’t respond to this ... .“Over the past couple of weeks, a lot has happened,†Parrett began. “Protests have occurred, riots have broken out, people have been killed. And across the United States, companies, organizations, and schools have proclaimed their support of a movement called ‘Anti-racism'â€â€”here Parrett was referring to the capital-A variety. Parrett went on to complain about the segregated setting of the training and what she saw as the generally closed-minded nature of the nation’s post-Floyd discourse. ......“Thank you, Elisa,†said the facilitator, cutting Parrett off about three minutes into her remarks. “No, you don’t get to cut me off—I’m going to finish what I have to say,†she responded. “I’m going to ask that you share the platform with the rest of the 200 nearly people who are here today,†replied the facilitator. But Parrett continued for about another minute, telling the all-white attendees of the mandatory, segregated conversation that universities should be places where “ideas could be discussed, explored, debated, and assessedâ€â€”and that “this is not that.â€...But five days later Parrett got an email from President Amy Morrison which had a very different tone. It read in part, “Because of your egregious behavior which has led to substantial harm to hundreds of colleagues on campus, I have asked Dr. Ames, Dean Doug Emory, and [executive director of H.R.] Meena Park to meet with you in the next few days to have a serious conversation about how successful you can possibly be on campus in the future.â€Two days later, Parrett was placed on administrative leave. ... A disciplinary complaint was filed against Parrett by the vice president who’d made the seemingly supportive call to her a few days earlier. The complaint alleged Parrett had behaved in a “corrupt, insolent and insubordinate manner.â€When Singal emailed the Vice President ..., she doubled down and claimed that Parrett had been “aggressively yelling at folks in the meeting.†... she was apparently unaware that Singal had the audio of the entire session. When he sent her a copy and asked her to point out where Parrett had yelled at anyone, a university spokesperson suggested Parrett’s “visible anger†wasn’t conveyed by the audio.After a months-long investigation which cost the school a minimum of $80,000 and generated reports that were cumulatively about 200 pages long, the school suddenly announced about two weeks ago that the outcome would be a written reprimand and a demand that Parrett create no further disturbances to the school’s anti-racism efforts.
About an hour and 20 minutes in, Parrett said, “Hi, I would like to speak, if I may.†The moderator replied, “Mm-hmm,†indicating that she could go ahead. Parrett then explained that she had noticed something she was hoping to point out to the group and asked if she could have five minutes to read a statement she had prepared. The facilitator didn’t respond to this ... .“Over the past couple of weeks, a lot has happened,†Parrett began. “Protests have occurred, riots have broken out, people have been killed. And across the United States, companies, organizations, and schools have proclaimed their support of a movement called ‘Anti-racism'â€â€”here Parrett was referring to the capital-A variety. Parrett went on to complain about the segregated setting of the training and what she saw as the generally closed-minded nature of the nation’s post-Floyd discourse. ......“Thank you, Elisa,†said the facilitator, cutting Parrett off about three minutes into her remarks. “No, you don’t get to cut me off—I’m going to finish what I have to say,†she responded. “I’m going to ask that you share the platform with the rest of the 200 nearly people who are here today,†replied the facilitator. But Parrett continued for about another minute, telling the all-white attendees of the mandatory, segregated conversation that universities should be places where “ideas could be discussed, explored, debated, and assessedâ€â€”and that “this is not that.â€
