VICTORY for Pennsylvania Student as he is Allowed In Class Without Apology
"As requested the student will be allowed to attend class without apology and is not expelled, disciplined or further persecuted and can go forward to graduation, so Public Advocate legal counsel action is paused," says Eugene Delgaudio, president of Public Advocate.
The Pittsburg Post Gazette reports:
A student at the center of a dispute over free speech and classroom etiquette at Indiana University of Pennsylvania can return to his religious studies class, and disciplinary proceedings have been shelved - at least temporarily, IUP president Michael Driscoll said Monday.
The student, Lake Ingle, faced university sanctions after he complained in class about a speaker's opinions on topics including white male privilege, sexism and gender pay disparities.
In a prepared statement Monday, Mr. Driscoll said he had decided to "indefinitely pause" the disciplinary proceedings and allow Mr. Ingle to return to class. Mr. Driscoll said the emotionally charged nature of the dispute and media attention led to a "spate of invective, threat, obscene phone calls and misinformation."
"As a result of how things have played out, I am afraid that the thoughtful, dispassionate review of the matter is impossible," he said.
In a brief statement after Mr. Driscoll's announcement, Mr. Ingle said, "I am thankful the president made the correct decision."
Mr. Ingle, 23, a senior religious studies major from Tyrone, Blair County, was referred to the university's Academic Integrity Board after his professor accused him of disrupting class. Mr. Ingle claimed the university violated his right to free speech.
The conflict occurred Feb. 28 in a special topics course called "Self, Sin and Salvation," which explores a range of Christian perspectives. Students that day had been required to watch a TED Talk presentation by Paula Stone Williams, a transgender woman, Mr. Ingle said.
FOX NEWS REPORTS:
Lake Ingle, a religious studies major at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, was kicked out of Christianity class earlier this month for saying there are only two genders. He is now allowed back in.
IUP President Michael Driscoll announced at a press conference Monday his decision to go against Professor Alison Downie's controversial request to ban Ingle from class for "disruptive behavior."
Ingle told Fox News he was booted out of Downie's classroom for challenging the feminist theology professor on the biology of males and females and the gender wage gap during a Feb. 28 lecture in which she allegedly asked only women to speak following a TED Talk by transgender ex-pastor Paula Stone Williams. Williams discussed the "reality" of "mansplaining," "sexism from men," and "male privilege."