A college president took far-left political stands in order to gain favor with his “woke” student body. However, despite his efforts, these same students initiated a movement to have him removed over accusations of racism.
Incredibly, a petition calling for the ousting of Dr. Matthew Johnson gained steam among the ultra-woke student body, The Police Tribune reports. Despite his efforts to perpetuate the progressive movement in academia, the president of Albion College in Michigan became a casualty of his own political agenda.
For decades, impressionable students have been molded into political activists pushing the radical left’s agenda. Now, educators are being forced to face the product of their efforts and finding that they’ve unwittingly created their own means of destruction.
Johnson made his media debut when he released a campus email denouncing conservatives as purveyors of “white supremacy” and lauding violent Black Lives Matter demonstrators as “unarmed peaceful Black and Brown protestors.” Unfortunately, his virtue signaling couldn’t save him from the wrath of his far more progressive students.
Ironically, the petition on Change.org accused Johnson of racist and unethical actions, including bullying students, harassing minorities, and even illegally housing livestock on campus.
“Despite the fact that countless staff, faculty, students, and Albion community members have spoken out against Johnson and everything that he has done ‘for’ Albion College. We want Mathew Johnson out of Albion College,” the petition said.
The petition claims that the president hired “POC” (people of color) solely based on their racial identity as a sort of diversity hiring. It states that he turned a blind eye to students being harassed until demonstrations formed, forcing him to address the issue.
“Mathew Johnson, who ignored when POC at Albion were being harassed in their dorm halls until there were massive student-led protests. He also went on to hire POC on staff, made it clear he hired them because they were POC, and when the faculty member made it clear they were uncomfortable (stating that they felt like they were just being used as a statistic) he and his team ignored this professor until they quit.”
The petition also accuses Johnson of bullying both faculty and students. It claims that he even locked fraternity members out of their own homes in order to force them to relocate.
“According to several faculty members and staff, Johnson’s ‘my way or the highway’ attitude has ruined morale and is driving Albion College to the ground. He has been shown bullying staff and students to get his way. Most recently he has been bullying fraternity members into giving up their housing and agreeing with his plan to relocate all frat members to an apartment building on campus. When some of the frats did not agree with Johnson’s plan, he locked them out of the third floor of their houses.”
The petition also accuses Johnson of keeping a pair of goats in kennels on campus, even though city ordinances prohibit the keeping of such livestock. Additionally, the petition charges that he hired his personal construction company to perform unnecessary services around campus.
It’s amusing but unsurprising to see a far-left academic cannibalized by their own protégés. Of course, it’s bound to happen more often since the goalposts of progressivism constantly shift. While Johnson may beat the move to have him removed as college president, he can’t run forever. Eventually, his own woke ideology will catch up to him.
