A political science professor at Penn State University rejected students’ request to serve as advisor for the school’s resurrected Young Americans for Freedom chapter Tuesday, charging the group as responsible for recent riots at the U.S. Capitol. The group did not participate in those events at all.
“On principle, I do not take part in any on campus political movements, organizations or other,” Penn State political science professor Pete Hatemi initially wrote in an email first reported by the New Guard and obtained by The Federalist, citing a commitment “to be an unbiased instructor.”
Hatemi went on to repeat charges of racism and bigotry that have become routine on college campuses, and increasingly elsewhere, as conservatives are smeared with attacks cloaked in the moral righteousness of social justice.
“In your case, under no condition, would I support any group that has an implied or explicit support for Trump, racism, sexism, or indifference to democratic values, including peace, liberty, freedom, and justice for all peoples,” Hatemi wrote. “I question if your national organization has some responsibility of recent actions.”
The professor that began the same email with a pledge to be unbiased continued to call students’ request “offensive.”
“I suggest taking a moment, a serious look at the political situation, and given that many members of the Republican party supported an act of insurrection and violence… now might not be the time to solicit for new members or advisors for your organization,” Hatemi wrote.
John Stafford, the Penn State student who submitted the request, told The Federalist he was caught off guard by the professor’s animosity, which he said is characteristic of the teachers of the liberal arts.
Hatemi, Stafford said, focuses his research on the intersection of genetics and political ideology, and therefore students thought the professor would be receptive to advising the Young Americans for Freedom chapter re-establishing itself on campus.
“Through his research, I thought he would be a very tolerant person,” Stafford told The Federalist, speculating that Hatemi might have also been trying to protect his reputation at the university to avoid being ostracized by his colleagues in left-wing academia.
On a smaller scale, Hatemi’s reaction to Stafford’s request proved a point made by conservative firebrand Ben Shapiro guest-writing Politico Playbook on Thursday, arguing the left is engaging in blatant double-standards to lump the entire right with the riotous crowd that sacked the Capitol in what increasingly appears a pre-planned attack.
“If you supported Trump in any way, you were at least partially culpable, the argument goes. It’s not just Trump who deserves vitriol — it’s all 74 million people who voted for him,” in Politico’s flagship newsletter.
Shapiro’s appearance sparked outrage among Politico’s staff in the latest episode exposing legacy newsrooms as an extension of the isolated college campus.
