Laurel Duggan, DCNF
David Romps, director of the Berkeley Atmospheric Sciences Center (BASC), publicly resigned Monday over his concern that the school excludes scientists based on their political beliefs.
Excluding people because of their political and social views diminishes the pool of scientists with which members of BASC can interact and reduces the opportunities for learning and collaboration.
— David Romps (@romps) October 18, 2021
“Excluding people because of their political and social views diminishes the pool of scientists with which members of BASC can interact and reduces the opportunities for learning and collaboration,” Romps stated on Twitter. “Such exclusion signals that some opinions — even well-intentioned ones — are forbidden, thereby increasing self-censorship, degrading public discourse, and contributing to our nation’s political balkanization.”
Consequently, I am stepping down from the directorship at the end of this calendar year or when a replacement is ready, whichever is sooner.
— David Romps (@romps) October 18, 2021
Romps reportedly asked BASC to invite Dorian Abbot, who was disinvited from a lecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), to lecture at the University of California, Berkeley, to reaffirm that BASC is a purely scientific organization, not a political one. “It became unclear to me whether we could invite that scientist ever again, let alone now,” Romps said.
MIT canceled Abbot’s invitation to hold the Carlson Lecture — “a major honor in my field,” as Abbot described it — after graduate students denounced content on Abbott’s YouTube channel as threatening the “safety and belonging of all underrepresented groups within the department.”
In an op-ed in August, Abbot criticized the school’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion program, which he said violates the ethical and legal principle of equal treatment and “treats persons as merely means to an end, giving primacy to a statistic over the individuality of a human being.”
The University of California, Berkeley did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
- Sabo: ‘Rush was our GOAT, there was no equal and he made it look easy’ - February 18, 2024
- Dana Bash appears to want to crawl out of her own skin when Ramaswamy ‘goes there’ on J6 - December 7, 2023
- As Biden’s approval ratings decrease, students criticize administration for rebuilding border wall and support for Israel - November 12, 2023
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!