What’s the message from UW-Eau Claire on supporting students?

At a recent UW-Eau Claire forum, a student asked what students could do to support José Felipe Alvergue, the professor who used violence in an effort to silence conservative students on campus.

Assistant Dean Ashley Fritz, (she/they), replied, “Unless you are a student that was involved, the most you can do is write letters of support.”

Let’s be honest, that’s does not sound like neutrality. It sounds like a thinly veiled code to pressure the students to drop this and protect the professor at all costs.

There was no call to support the ones impacted, just a public cue that the institution’s priority is image management, not accountability.

The message is clear. If you were hurt, stay silent. If you support the aggressor, speak up. That’s not process, folks. That’s institutional gaslighting. And that’s dangerous for all of us. 

As I see it, I’m Andy Parrish