Professor 'Watchlist' Garners Backlash from Miami Professors

BY JAMES STEINBAUER
Miami University journalism student
A professor watchlist seeking to “expose and document” college professors accused of discriminating against conservative students and advancing “leftist propaganda” in the classroom has garnered criticism from academia at Miami University.

“To fulfill their missions, colleges and universities must ensure that all members of their communities may seek knowledge freely,” Miami’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors wrote in a statement to the university community last week.

In the statement, the AAUP urged Miami’s administration to condemn the watchlist and other hate crimes and to continue its “robust support of free intellectual inquiry.”

The watchlist, which names over 200 college professors, was created by Turning Point USA, a conservative, student-run organization that boasts a presence on more than 1,000 college campuses and high schools across the United States. There are currently no Miami professors on the list.

“Students, parents and alumni deserve to know the specific incidents and names of professors that advance a radical agenda in lecture halls,” a description on the watchlist’s website reads.

Founded by 18-year-old
Turning Point USA was created in 2012 by Charlie Kirk, then an 18-year-old student at Wheeling High School north of Chicago. Now 23, Kirk has made appearances on Fox News, CNBC and FOX Business News more than 200 times, according to Turning Point’s website.

The non-profit organization has gained notoriety for its use of provocative posters, such as one that reads “Socialism Sucks!” and handouts designed to “train, educate and inspire young activists about important economic issues” such as “10 Ways Fossil Fuels Improve Our Daily Lives” and “If The Founders Had Twitter.”

Miami's Turning Point University’s chapter made headlines in recent weeks when its spokesperson, John DiGiacobbe, invited Milo Yiannopoulos, an editor for the far-right news and opinion website called Breitbart News, to speak on campus.

In his Monday talk at the Armstrong Student Center, Yiannopoulos railed against professors who promote the idea of safe spaces on college campuses, including Daniel Brewster, a sociology professor at West Virginia, whom Yiannopoulos called a “fat fag*ot.” More than 250 Miami students and faculty packed into the Harry T. Wilks Theater to hear Yiannopoulos.

“I think the purpose of the list is to inform students, parents and faculty that there are professors across the country who push or promote a leftist ideology in the classroom and, in some cases, attempt to stifle free speech and discussion from conservative students,” DiGiacobbe said in a statement. “College ought to be a place where students are taught how to think, not what to think.”

DiGiacobbe is a junior studying marketing and entrepreneurship in Miami's Farmer School of Business.

Photo: The Professor Watchlist page includes the names of more than 200 professors from universities across the United States who have been accused of advancing "liberal propaganda" in the classroom. -- Contributed photo