The left believes that using violence and intimidation against others is justified if it furthers their political agenda. Because of this, some college campuses are no longer safe places to discuss controversial ideas. Fortunately, some Republicans are fighting back.

For example, earlier this month, out of control liberals students and faculty overran Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. Hundreds swarmed the campus, interrupted classes, shouted down professors, and threatened violence. Despite this clear misconduct, the school administration did nothing to punish those who were responsible. As a result, a Republican lawmaker proposed a bill that would cut federal aid to the school.

Just recently, State Representative Matt Manweller introduced House Bill 2221. If passed, Evergreen would be turned into a private school, which would lead to the loss of $24,000,000 in public funding. He wants to defund the school because he claims that instead of teaching, the university faculty indoctrinates. “[They] are a taxpayer funded school and the taxpayers expect [them] to provide an environment of education not a dystopia of indoctrination,” he argued, adding, “if [their] goal is to create a modern-day version of a re-education camp, then [they should] do it on [their] own dime.”

His legislation is a direct response to behavior he saw several weeks ago on the campus. According to reports, Evergreen has an annual “Day of Absence.” Traditionally, students and faculty of color volunteered to not show up for the day to demonstrate their value. However, this year, since President Trump won the 2016 election, an email was sent to faculty demanding that white teachers not show up. Several teachers argued that having a day where people volunteer to not show up is not the same as having a day where people are told not to show up and therefore, decided to show up to school anyway.

One of the most vocal critics was Bret Weinstein, a liberal professor who teaches evolutionary biology. He sent out an email to the staff stating, “there is a huge difference between a group or coalition deciding to voluntarily absent themselves from a shared space in order to highlight their vital and under-appreciated roles (the theme of the Douglas Turner Ward play Day of Absence, as well as the recent Women’s Day walkout), and a group or coalition encouraging another group to go away. The first is a forceful call to consciousness….the second is a show of force and an act of oppression in and of itself.”

Since he thought being told to not come to campus up was an act of oppression, he decided to push back by showing up. However, when he arrived, students disrupted his classes and labeled him a racist. Since then, he hasn’t been able to go back on campus because local police officers say it’s not safe.

Manweller believes that the school administrations are the ones to blame. During an interview with reporters, he said “the administration bears direct responsibility for this situation. They hired the professors who have elevated the pseudo-science of ‘social justice’ to a religious movement. Now all dissent is crushed by threats of violence or actual violence.” By saying this, he’s claiming that the obsession over “social justice” has led many to behave reprehensibly. “It is incredibly frightening that the administration at Evergreen would tacitly support Brownshirt tactics we have not seen since 1930s Germany. That they would allow students to threaten professors and other students based on their race is simply horrifying,” he added.

In addition to proposing the bill to defund Evergreen, Manweller also sent a letter to the state Human Rights Commission asking them to investigate the school for potential civil rights violations. “It is appalling we have professors and students being threatened based on their race on the Evergreen campus and no action has been taken. The Commission needs to address this in a thorough and timely manner,” he said in the letter, adding, “we have unsafe, hostile and unfair treatment occurring on the campus of one of our country’s most liberal colleges. Discrimination should not be condoned anywhere, but to happen here is truly sad and discouraging. Campuses should be a place of rigorous, free debate that respects the marketplace of ideas from students and professors of all races, ethnicities or origins.”

The out-of-control authoritarian left must be stopped. To do so, Republicans need to continue to push for legislation defunding schools that indoctrinate rather than teach. Colleges should be a place where students are taught “how” to think, not “what to think.”