The problem with Wesleyan is that the administration is too good at doing what they are supposed to do. Namely, they have proven themselves to be highly effective at upholding a system of violence, quelling student dissent, and doing immeasurable harm to local communities [1]—all while maximizing profit and maintaining a glowing image in the eyes of wealthy donors. Scientifically speaking, the Wesleyan administration is doing an optimal job at minimizing justice and maximizing bullshit.
I worked in ResLife. I staffed the IDEAS lab and helped students through physics classes. Supposedly, I believed in this school. What did I see in my time as a student? I saw this school leave my friends unhoused, or expel them, or institutionalize them against their will. I read a scathing report of one trustee sexually assaulting a student, another contributing to the Uyghur genocide, and plenty others working to further climate change and the military-industrial complex [2]. I saw the school pay over $1k an hour to hire the same law firm Starbucks uses to bust unions instead of paying its grad students a living wage [3]. I saw my friends get subjected to a search warrant for merely existing in the vicinity of the school’s WiFi [4]. I saw the grown adults who run this place play the victim so many times it made me sick to the stomach, all while never for one minute considering changing things for the better.
And now, I see this school railroading a bunch of scapegoats to set the example that student dissent will not be tolerated.
It’s all a bunch of neoliberal-presenting, authoritarian bullshit.
The same typical cycle of bullshit happens here that happens everywhere else. Admin gets up to bullshit. Students call them on their bullshit. Admin wants students gone, so admin makes up some bullshit. PSafe files bullshit reports. Admin pushes bullshit charges. Ignores video evidence and trusts some bullshit hearsay because how the Community Standards Board (CSB) itself works is a bunch of bullshit. All the while violating Wesleyan’s own bullshit policy [5]. Gets away with it because the people violating the policy are the same ones who enforce it. Cycle repeats. Bullshit. This is not some kind of special, quirky, socially conscious school that “values independence of mind” or “is characterized by practical idealism” [6]. This is not education. This is not social justice. This is bullshit. This is profit. This is hegemony. This is Wesleyan.
So go on, admin. Prove me wrong. Drop the fucking charges.