Today’s blacklisted American: Professor who uncovered academic incompetence has been forced to resign from Portland State University
No liberty at Portland State University. Photo credit: William Zhang
The new dark age of silencing: Peter Boghossian, one of three professors who revealed the incompetence and bad scholarship that now permeates academic culture by writing and getting published a fake paper in 2017 that claimed the penis was merely a “social construct,” has finally been forced to resign from his position at Portland State University in Oregon because of the never-ending harassment and slanders that he has been subjected to by both faculty and staff there.
“Administrators and faculty were so angered by the papers that they published an anonymous piece in the student paper and Portland State filed formal charges against me,” Boghossian wrote in his statement. ”Their accusation? ‘Research misconduct’ based on the absurd premise that the journal editors who accepted our intentionally deranged articles were ‘human subjects.’ I was found guilty of not receiving approval to experiment on human subjects.”
The school subsequently barred Boghossian from conducting research.
But according to Boghossian, he suffered far more abuse on campus than merely being sanctioned for his prank. “I’d find flyers around campus of me with a Pinocchio nose. I was spit on and threatened by passersby while walking to class,” he wrote. “I was informed by students that my colleagues were telling them to avoid my classes. And, of course, I was subjected to more investigation.”
…He also noted he was once the subject of a baseless investigation that tarred him as someone who commits violence against women. “My accuser, a white male, made a slew of baseless accusations against me, which university confidentiality rules unfortunately prohibit me from discussing further,” Boghossian wrote. “What I can share is that students of mine who were interviewed during the process told me the Title IX investigator asked them if they knew anything about me beating my wife and children. This horrifying accusation soon became a widespread rumor.”
Boghossian apparently had had enough. However, he is not running away, but instead leaving to form a new organization to specifically fight the close-minded and oppressive culture that now dominates most universities like Portland State.
Boghossian is already on to his next project as executive director of the National Progress Alliance, whose mission is promoting “cognitive liberty.” The website was registered in March.
He founded the alliance to “punch the beast in the face,” Boghossian said. Its board includes journalist Melissa Chen, whose group Ideas Beyond Borders translates controversial English works into Arabic; Michael Trollan, chairman of Atheists for Liberty; and Matt Thornton, a mixed-martial arts pioneer who helped train Conor McGregor.
Boghossian is planning to post a series of short videos later this month on woke definitions of common words such as “equity.” Other video series in the works are by fellow Portlanders Lyell Asher, a professor at Lewis & Clark College, and journalist Nancy Rommelmann, as well as Smith College whistleblower Jodi Shaw.
From this description, it appears that the National Progress Alliance will be a variation of Dennis Prager’s Prager University, which regularly publishes educational and very factual videos debunking the bankrupt agenda’s of the left. If so, expect an effort soon by the left to silence this project as well.
Meanwhile, let me ask the same questions about Portland State University (PSU) that I raised in 2019: Is this the kind of place you want to send your kids? Is this the kind of place you’d want to attend, if you were a high school student?
It seems that a lot of parents and students have been asking these questions, and deciding that Portland is not the place they want to get a college education.
Enrollment at PSU has been steadily declining over the past decade, according to data from the university’s Finance & Administration Committee.
This past fall, PSU saw almost the largest decrease among Oregon public universities, at 7.8% — second only to Southern Oregon University, where enrollment plunged more than 15%, according to Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission. “We continue on our trend of falling enrollment, and this has actually accelerated this year, and [is] worrisome for next year,” Irving Levin, Chair of PSU’s F&A Committee, said.
In Jan. 2019, PSU had more than 20,200 full-time students, according to data from the F&A committee. A year later, that number had fallen by about 1,000 students. This year, it is expected to drop by another 1,000 students. According to the F&A Committee, as of earlier this month, applications for freshmen were down by nearly 30% compared to last year.
As far as I am concerned, these are the most encouraging numbers I have read in years. The only problem I see is that it appears that there are still about 18,000 students at Portland, all getting what appears to be a very bad education.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the 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. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
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
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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.
No liberty at Portland State University. Photo credit: William Zhang
The new dark age of silencing: Peter Boghossian, one of three professors who revealed the incompetence and bad scholarship that now permeates academic culture by writing and getting published a fake paper in 2017 that claimed the penis was merely a “social construct,” has finally been forced to resign from his position at Portland State University in Oregon because of the never-ending harassment and slanders that he has been subjected to by both faculty and staff there.
“Administrators and faculty were so angered by the papers that they published an anonymous piece in the student paper and Portland State filed formal charges against me,” Boghossian wrote in his statement. ”Their accusation? ‘Research misconduct’ based on the absurd premise that the journal editors who accepted our intentionally deranged articles were ‘human subjects.’ I was found guilty of not receiving approval to experiment on human subjects.”
The school subsequently barred Boghossian from conducting research.
But according to Boghossian, he suffered far more abuse on campus than merely being sanctioned for his prank. “I’d find flyers around campus of me with a Pinocchio nose. I was spit on and threatened by passersby while walking to class,” he wrote. “I was informed by students that my colleagues were telling them to avoid my classes. And, of course, I was subjected to more investigation.”
…He also noted he was once the subject of a baseless investigation that tarred him as someone who commits violence against women. “My accuser, a white male, made a slew of baseless accusations against me, which university confidentiality rules unfortunately prohibit me from discussing further,” Boghossian wrote. “What I can share is that students of mine who were interviewed during the process told me the Title IX investigator asked them if they knew anything about me beating my wife and children. This horrifying accusation soon became a widespread rumor.”
Boghossian apparently had had enough. However, he is not running away, but instead leaving to form a new organization to specifically fight the close-minded and oppressive culture that now dominates most universities like Portland State.
Boghossian is already on to his next project as executive director of the National Progress Alliance, whose mission is promoting “cognitive liberty.” The website was registered in March.
He founded the alliance to “punch the beast in the face,” Boghossian said. Its board includes journalist Melissa Chen, whose group Ideas Beyond Borders translates controversial English works into Arabic; Michael Trollan, chairman of Atheists for Liberty; and Matt Thornton, a mixed-martial arts pioneer who helped train Conor McGregor.
Boghossian is planning to post a series of short videos later this month on woke definitions of common words such as “equity.” Other video series in the works are by fellow Portlanders Lyell Asher, a professor at Lewis & Clark College, and journalist Nancy Rommelmann, as well as Smith College whistleblower Jodi Shaw.
From this description, it appears that the National Progress Alliance will be a variation of Dennis Prager’s Prager University, which regularly publishes educational and very factual videos debunking the bankrupt agenda’s of the left. If so, expect an effort soon by the left to silence this project as well.
Meanwhile, let me ask the same questions about Portland State University (PSU) that I raised in 2019: Is this the kind of place you want to send your kids? Is this the kind of place you’d want to attend, if you were a high school student?
It seems that a lot of parents and students have been asking these questions, and deciding that Portland is not the place they want to get a college education.
Enrollment at PSU has been steadily declining over the past decade, according to data from the university’s Finance & Administration Committee.
This past fall, PSU saw almost the largest decrease among Oregon public universities, at 7.8% — second only to Southern Oregon University, where enrollment plunged more than 15%, according to Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission. “We continue on our trend of falling enrollment, and this has actually accelerated this year, and [is] worrisome for next year,” Irving Levin, Chair of PSU’s F&A Committee, said.
In Jan. 2019, PSU had more than 20,200 full-time students, according to data from the F&A committee. A year later, that number had fallen by about 1,000 students. This year, it is expected to drop by another 1,000 students. According to the F&A Committee, as of earlier this month, applications for freshmen were down by nearly 30% compared to last year.
As far as I am concerned, these are the most encouraging numbers I have read in years. The only problem I see is that it appears that there are still about 18,000 students at Portland, all getting what appears to be a very bad education.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the 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. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
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.
HOW DARE YOU. My penis is not just a social construct.
Your the morans who published it (sic).
It’s not his fault satire is indistinguishable from modern academic research in tyrannical leftist bizarro clown world.
Can you change the gray background on this site? 69 year old eyes have trouble reading the articles. And would guess I am not the only one.
Michael M Higgins: No. For my 68 year old eyes (as well as when I was 58), the grey makes the site gentler and easier to read.
You can do several things.
1. Increase the size of the text. In most browsers, all you need to do is press control-+ several times to make the print as large as you need.
2. Change the background colors to your taste. I have actually, so that most websites have the same grey background. To do this depends on your browser and your operating system, but it can be done with relatively ease.
“What I can share is that students of mine who were interviewed during the process told me the Title IX investigator asked them if they knew anything about me beating my wife and children. This horrifying accusation soon became a widespread rumor.”
“Do you still beat your wife?”
“You must be joking!” John McEnroe
Would like to see a response along the lines of “No, I beat yours.”
What happens if students refuse to participate in the interrogation? They get expelled? From place like PSU, that would be an honor for any rational person.
Bruce Springsteen (may have) had something to say about this:
‘Expelled
From PSU
I was
Expelled from PSU
Got into a scholastic jam
There’s more freedom
In Vietnam’
I see we have reached the point where people with the attitudes of PSU’s “activist” students of 20 years ago are now administering the school.
My degree in Science is from PSU. I finally got one in 2003, while our Oregon L5 Research Team was still producing papers. During my 12 months on campus I was threatened (out of class) twice, by student “activists”, for expressing non-progressive viewpoints.
In my last quarter on campus, I took a Neurophysiology course, with a text by Eric Kendall, a Nobel Prize Winner in the field. We came to the chapters on Sexual Differentiation in the Human Brain. The instructor, a Tenured Senior Professor, told us openly, …”You can study these chapters on your own, …I wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole.”
The fear was already growing. I am not at all surprised to see this happening at PSU. As for Portland itself, it had the nickname “Little Beirut” in the early 1980s, … and *not* for its restaurants! I expect that many of the meetings and much of the organizing for Rose City Antifa took place from 2007 onward, at PSU’s downtown campus, among a very friendly faculty and Administrative Staff.
Amazing how many kids that would have been considered fairly intelligent in times past fall for this nonsense. I guess after 50 years of leftist nonsense including trying to destroy the nuclear family, Christianity, the military, gun control, free speech, flooding the US with 3rd world low IQ morons, homosexual propaganda and transgender baloney and now the kung flu crap the left figures to give the US the kill shot.
mjc227, Yup that’s pretty much the leftist agenda. They’ve had a voter replacement drive since the 1965 immigration and naturalization act signed into law by LBJ. The percentage of White population has been pretty much halved at this point. Whites are minorities in many states. Pushing homosexuality and gay marriage reduces white reproduction. Children of liberal white parents are most likely to be open to homosexual propaganda. People open to gay marriage are more likely to be open to the transgender propaganda. Christianity, which promotes heterosexuality and reproduction within marriage, has been all but destroyed. The transgender movement leaves confused children of liberal white parents sterile, lowering the number of white offspring. Feminism pits women against men both promoting homosexuality among women and reducing the likelihood of heterosexual marriage and reproduction in the remainder. Now, the coup de gras, covid lockdowns prevent people from meeting in the first place by physically isolating one American from another and destroying the working class leaving only a few multinationals intact which, coincidentally, happen to be run by rabid leftists. Divide and conquer. Brilliant actually.