Faculty members at the University of California, Berkeley recently condemned President-elect Donald Trump and alleged that racist, sexist, anti “anti-trans” sentiments among voters can explain his reelection.
The officials’ comments were published in a Nov. 6 article on the school’s website, a day after the election.
“There are many takeaways from the election results,” said Eric Schickler, co-director of the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies. “But the most important implication is that just four years after the Jan. 6 insurrection, former President Trump will be back in the White House — now surrounded by staff and agency leaders who will be more committed to him both personally and to his agenda.”
Raka Ray, dean of the university’s Social Sciences, said the rejection of Kamala Harris was “racist and misogynist,” claimed Trump’s campaign appealed to the “wounded racial and masculine identity of particular demographic groups,” and blamed the “willingness of some immigrants to shut the door behind them.”
She added, however, that “at the end of the day, I do not believe that these results would have occurred if large populations of Americans did not worry about the cost of groceries, utilities and rents.”
Lisa García Bedolla, vice provost for graduate studies and dean of the Graduate Division, said that “many voters” cast ballots for Trump because of his allegedly “racist and misogynist statements.”
Eric A. Stanley, the Haas Distinguished Chair in LGBT Equity, alleged that Republicans “produced” an “atmosphere of anti-trans hate to move people to the polls.” Stanley also claimed that Republicans want to “eradicate trans people,” and blamed Democrats for supposedly “remain[ing] mostly silent,” claiming this “silence” is “illustrative of the Democratic Party’s move further toward the right which helped them lose the election.”
M. Steven Fish, a political scientist, said: “Harris is a strong leader and a diehard patriot, and Trump is a coward at heart and a traitor to boot. Tragically, the Democrats neglected to show it.”
Trump’s victory triggered hostility from professors in other universities as well.
A Michigan State University professor, Alexa Veenema, condemned Trump supporters after the election, sending an email to her students saying: “It is unbelievable to me that so many Americans are so utterly naive and would fall for this and support misogyny, racism, xenophobia, hate, and violence.”
The University of Oregon’s assistant director of fraternity and sorority life, Leonard Serrato, also spoke out against Trump voters, saying they should “go f–k [themselves]” and telling them “I hope you go jump off of a f–king bridge.”
Several schools planned events for Election Week to for students to relax from stress regarding the election.
Indiana University offered a “Chow Down & Chime In: Post-Election Chats” event in which students were given “a bowl of soup and chow mein noodles while coming together as a community to listen, discuss, and decompress.”
Georgetown University’s agenda for Election Day gave students “Milk and Cookies,” “Legos and Coloring,” and “Snacks and Self-Guided Meditation.”
Campus Reform has contacted the University of California, Berkeley for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
This article was originally published at campusreform.org
