‘It’s largely performative’: Ursula calls out land acknowledgments after appeals court sides with UW professor

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with University of Washington (UW) computer science professor Stuart Reges, finding that university officials unlawfully punished him for including a parody land acknowledgment in his syllabus that challenged the school’s recommended statement, Seattle Red reported last week.

After the court ruling, Reges cannot be warned, investigated, or quietly sidelined just for offending students when speaking on the issue.

Reges pushed back on UW’s recommended language that recognizes Coast Salish tribes, and he argued the opposite.

“He claimed that indigenous peoples could rightfully claim almost none of the land under the university,” KIRO host Ursula Reutin explained on “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio.

Students complained, and the Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science and Engineering had to issue a public apology.

“This particular professor faced more than a year of investigation, and he was warned not to repeat the statement. A divided Ninth Circuit Court ruled the warning alone violated his First Amendment rights, and the court said student discomfort does not give a public university the right to retaliate against a professor’s speech on matters of public concern,” Ursula said. “So my question for all of you listening right now: do you agree with this ruling, or do you stand by the lower court ruling? Should the university appeal?”

KIRO producer believes courts got it right

KIRO producer Andrew Lanier believed the courts largely got it right.

“I’m for free speech, even when it makes us uncomfortable,” Andrew shared. “Second, this is an employer that he’s dealing with, so I think that makes it a special circumstance, although it is a public employer, which I believe changes things slightly, because your First Amendment rights extend to the government’s ability to censor your speech or tell you, tell you what you can’t say.”

He added that he is erring on the side of allowing people to say what they want, even when it is offensive.

Ursula questions value of land acknowledgments

Ursula pointed to the overall impact of land acknowledgments and said she believes they’re not achieving what advocates intend.

“I think it’s largely performative. I think people aren’t inspired to do more, or do they feel like, ‘Well, I’m doing enough, or I’m doing this, or they’re rolling their eyes, or whatever it is,'” Ursula said.

“And I’ll just go back to the story that Heather did for us yesterday. I would rather have more emphasis and more support for Native Americans and indigenous people, that’s not just a land acknowledgement, and ‘Oh, I’m good now. If it makes more people curious, that’s great. If it makes people want to do more, but it just feels like it’s being done just to look good,” she continued.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.