I noticed signs of the illiberalism that has now fully swallowed the academy quite early during my time at Portland State. I witnessed students refusing to engage with different points of view. Questions from faculty at diversity trainings that challenged approved narratives were instantly dismissed. Those who asked for evidence to justify new institutional policies were accused of microaggressions. And professors were accused of bigotry for assigning canonical texts written by philosophers who happened to have been European and male.

At first, I didn’t realize how systemic this was and I believed I could question this new culture. So I began asking questions. What is the evidence that trigger warnings and safe spaces contribute to student learning? Why should racial consciousness be the lens through which we view our role as educators? How did we decide that “cultural appropriation” is immoral?

Unlike my colleagues, I asked these questions out loud and in public.

This kind of thing happens more and more, in academia and in the private sector and in volunteer organizations. People are vilified, harassed, and stalked for pursuing critical thinking, for asking questions, for engaging with actual diversity. The woke use that word but they don't seem to know what it means. Diversity means encountering people and ideas that are unfamiliar to you, that might challenge you. It doesn't mean "cancel anybody who isn't 100% like me ideologically".