Philosophy Professor Nicholas Meriwether turned the tables on his liberal university officials by refusing to follow their woke and trendy policy on pronouns. They wrote him a huge check to keep from defending the indefensible in court, without actually admitting they did anything wrong. He can buy a new house and still doesn’t have to use woke pronouns.
Don’t argue with the Professor
Shawnee University in Ohio threw $400,000 at philosophy professor Nicholas Meriwether to make him leave them alone. The big win is that from now on, he can use any pronouns he pleases, “regardless of a student’s request.” All over the country, educators are grappling with the challenge of “balancing the inclusivity of transgender students and the religious beliefs of some teachers.”
It looks like the problem’s been solved. We have this little thing called a Constitution, whether progressives believe it still exists or not.
The wheels of justice turn slowly. Meriwether filed his lawsuit back in 2018, “after he was disciplined.” It made it’s way to a federal district court, where a liberal judge threw it out, claiming the Professor didn’t have standing. Not so fast, a three-judge appellate panel declared last year.
Meriwether had a legal leg to stand on after all because he “could have argued his First Amendment rights of free speech and religion and his 14th Amendment right to due process were violated.” They sent it back down to the lower court to try again and maybe get it right this time.
The whole mess started when the professor “refused to use transgender student’s pronouns.” That’s his prerogative, the appeals court confirmed. The University administrators could read the writing on the wall so they caved in.
“As part of the settlement, the university has agreed that Meriwether has the right to choose when to use, or avoid using, titles or pronouns when referring to or addressing students.”
School spells it out
They didn’t have to write it a hundred times on the blackboard but the lesson this professor taught them will stick with the university leaders for a while. A long while.
“Significantly, the university agreed Meriwether will never be mandated to use pronouns, including if a student requests pronouns that conflict with his or her biological sex.” He won’t have to meow or bark either. Without admitting that maybe they were wrong, Shawnee University called it an “economic decision.”
“Though we have decided to settle,” they noted in an official press release, “we adamantly deny that anyone at Shawnee State deprived Dr. Meriwether of his free speech rights or his rights to freely exercise his religion.” That’s nonsense, but here’s 400 large to make it better.
“In this case, Shawnee State followed its policy and federal law that protects students or any individual from bigotry and discrimination.” The professor just proved that words like he and she aren’t discriminatory.
Every other professor in the school is woke and on board with the brainwashing program, so they’ll put up some warning signs outside the Philosophy department. “Warning! Radical ideas could upset young students.” There are Play Doh and counseling sessions available to anyone who needs them. The student union is equipped with gender neutral facilities and they plan to install a litter box.
“We continue to stand behind a student’s right to a discrimination-free learning environment as well as the rights of faculty, visitors, students and employees to freely express their ideas and beliefs.“
