Enthusiastic censorship and blacklisting at St. Philip’s College in Texas
St. Philip’s College, the poster child of academic
blacklisting and censorship
They’re coming for you next: The university was conceived as a place of where young minds would be exposed to new ideas in order to challenge their youthful assumptions and unbridled certainty, with the determined goal to teach critical thinking. (For those who no longer know what critical thinking is, it is the concept that you question everything rigorously, including most importantly your own assumptions.)
It seems most American colleges no longer practice this. In fact, many now teach the exact opposite. Faced with ideas you don’t like, students are encouraged to complain, and hide in “safe spaces” so they don’t have to question anything.
It also appears that St. Philip’s College in Texas is the poster child of this new “teaching” concept. This semester it fired two different teachers when several anonymous students complained because those professors expressed some basic facts in their classrooms that conflict with the modern queer agenda and the leftist hostility to open debate.
First, Dr. Johnson Varkey was fired in January 2023 because he had the audacity during a November 2022 human anatomy and physiology class to state that human sex is determined by the X and Y chromosomes, a basic fact of biology.
Four students walked out of that class in protest, and then complained to the administration. Within weeks it terminated Varkey, with no due process. In its termination letter [pdf] (part of the response by Varkey’s attorney’s at the non-profit legal firm First Liberty), it claimed
…that the school “received numerous complaints” about his “religious preaching, discriminatory comments about homosexuals and transgender individuals, anti-abortion rhetoric, and misogynistic banter” and that his teaching “pushed beyond the bounds of academic freedom with [his] personal opinions that were offensive to many individuals in the classroom.”
According to First Liberty’s letter, the school’s actions not only violated numerous Texas and federal laws as well as the First Amendment to the Constitution, it fired Varkey for the same classroom statements and coursework he has been teaching there for twenty years, with no complaints at all.
Then St. Philip’s decided that open debate was also a firing offense. The fired professor, Will Moravits, had insisted on allowing open and civil debate in his classrooms, a fact that one anonymous student did not like. This student complained to the administration, stating
that Moravits taught “the LGBTQIA+ community is riddled with pedophilia, the ‘p’ in the LGBTQIA+ community stands for pedophilia and gay pride activists organize parades ‘with 12-year-olds jerking off in them.'” according to a letter sent by Moravits legal team.
This accusation however was not supported in any way by the evidence. Moravits lawyers, provided through funds from the Academic Freedom Alliance, were quickly able to obtain affidavits from two former students, stating exactly the opposing. From one:
A former black student of Moravits submitted an affidavit which stated “when we discussed LGBTQ issues, as usual, Dr. Moravits discussed things fair and square. I don’t recall Dr. Moravits talking about kids ‘jerking off’ at LGBTQ Parades. If he had said something crude like that, I believe I would remember it clearly.”
These disputed facts made no difference to St. Philip’s administration.
After receipt of the complaint, the college escorted Moravits off campus with police and informed him he would be placed on paid leave while the college investigated. During this time Moravits was not allowed to contact any of his colleagues or students to ask them to defend his character and teaching style.
As a result, Moravits was fired on March 27 before he had the chance to defend himself. The college called it “non-renewal,” but when Moravits went to collect his things, the college had four police officers escort him off campus again.
That both professors are suing is encouraging, because it appears both have strong cases. Neither was provided basic due process. The college made no effort in determining the facts, even though the charges against them were blatantly absurd. The firing of Varkey was especially unjust, considering he had been teaching at the college for two decades with no complaints.
St. Philip’s is a public community college with extensive funding from federal and state sources. It seems that the Texas legislature should take a look at that funding, and considering eliminating it. This college might think it is free to censor and bully whoever it wants to, but there is no reason the tax payer should fund such thuggery.
I also wonder why any parent or student would want to go to such a college, unless their goal is to become a close-minded individual with no ability to think. If so, St. Philip’s is for you! I certainly wouldn’t recommend hiring anyone with a degree from this place.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
St. Philip’s College, the poster child of academic
blacklisting and censorship
They’re coming for you next: The university was conceived as a place of where young minds would be exposed to new ideas in order to challenge their youthful assumptions and unbridled certainty, with the determined goal to teach critical thinking. (For those who no longer know what critical thinking is, it is the concept that you question everything rigorously, including most importantly your own assumptions.)
It seems most American colleges no longer practice this. In fact, many now teach the exact opposite. Faced with ideas you don’t like, students are encouraged to complain, and hide in “safe spaces” so they don’t have to question anything.
It also appears that St. Philip’s College in Texas is the poster child of this new “teaching” concept. This semester it fired two different teachers when several anonymous students complained because those professors expressed some basic facts in their classrooms that conflict with the modern queer agenda and the leftist hostility to open debate.
First, Dr. Johnson Varkey was fired in January 2023 because he had the audacity during a November 2022 human anatomy and physiology class to state that human sex is determined by the X and Y chromosomes, a basic fact of biology.
Four students walked out of that class in protest, and then complained to the administration. Within weeks it terminated Varkey, with no due process. In its termination letter [pdf] (part of the response by Varkey’s attorney’s at the non-profit legal firm First Liberty), it claimed
…that the school “received numerous complaints” about his “religious preaching, discriminatory comments about homosexuals and transgender individuals, anti-abortion rhetoric, and misogynistic banter” and that his teaching “pushed beyond the bounds of academic freedom with [his] personal opinions that were offensive to many individuals in the classroom.”
According to First Liberty’s letter, the school’s actions not only violated numerous Texas and federal laws as well as the First Amendment to the Constitution, it fired Varkey for the same classroom statements and coursework he has been teaching there for twenty years, with no complaints at all.
Then St. Philip’s decided that open debate was also a firing offense. The fired professor, Will Moravits, had insisted on allowing open and civil debate in his classrooms, a fact that one anonymous student did not like. This student complained to the administration, stating
that Moravits taught “the LGBTQIA+ community is riddled with pedophilia, the ‘p’ in the LGBTQIA+ community stands for pedophilia and gay pride activists organize parades ‘with 12-year-olds jerking off in them.'” according to a letter sent by Moravits legal team.
This accusation however was not supported in any way by the evidence. Moravits lawyers, provided through funds from the Academic Freedom Alliance, were quickly able to obtain affidavits from two former students, stating exactly the opposing. From one:
A former black student of Moravits submitted an affidavit which stated “when we discussed LGBTQ issues, as usual, Dr. Moravits discussed things fair and square. I don’t recall Dr. Moravits talking about kids ‘jerking off’ at LGBTQ Parades. If he had said something crude like that, I believe I would remember it clearly.”
These disputed facts made no difference to St. Philip’s administration.
After receipt of the complaint, the college escorted Moravits off campus with police and informed him he would be placed on paid leave while the college investigated. During this time Moravits was not allowed to contact any of his colleagues or students to ask them to defend his character and teaching style.
As a result, Moravits was fired on March 27 before he had the chance to defend himself. The college called it “non-renewal,” but when Moravits went to collect his things, the college had four police officers escort him off campus again.
That both professors are suing is encouraging, because it appears both have strong cases. Neither was provided basic due process. The college made no effort in determining the facts, even though the charges against them were blatantly absurd. The firing of Varkey was especially unjust, considering he had been teaching at the college for two decades with no complaints.
St. Philip’s is a public community college with extensive funding from federal and state sources. It seems that the Texas legislature should take a look at that funding, and considering eliminating it. This college might think it is free to censor and bully whoever it wants to, but there is no reason the tax payer should fund such thuggery.
I also wonder why any parent or student would want to go to such a college, unless their goal is to become a close-minded individual with no ability to think. If so, St. Philip’s is for you! I certainly wouldn’t recommend hiring anyone with a degree from this place.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
In Texas no less…
Soft minded students being backed and encouraged by outside sources.
Their goal in to disrupt the establishment anyway they can. Even though its the very establishment that gives them the ability to do what they want.
The university will lose this one.
I find this embarrassing as I have an A.A. from an Alamo Colleges community college (San Antonio College).
Maoism is here.