A University of Florida law student was honored with the “book award” for a paper he wrote in the fall arguing that the Constitution applies only to white people.
Patrick Damsky, the student, has caused chaos for the university, with some people believing this paper should not be awarded.
Federal Judge John L. Badalamenti, appointed by Donald Trump in 2020, taught Damsky’s class and awarded him the award for the class titled “originalism.”.
Initially, the law school’s interim dean, Merritt McAlister, defended the decision by claiming institutional neutrality.
David Canton, the Director of the African American Studies program at UF, said institutional neutrality will become very common in such university situations.
“I think now universities with certain topics are just going to be neutral or restrained and allow individuals to say what they have to say, but no statements or issues will come from the university,” said Canton.
This spring, Damksy took to the social media platform X to post multiple racist and antisemitic posts. One in late March, stating that Jews must be “abolished by any means necessary.” This caused the school to suspend him and issue him a trespass order.
Canton said some will argue that as long as you don’t touch or threaten anyone, you can talk all you want.
“For some students, his language is threatening. From his point he’s going to say I haven’t touched anyone, I’m just talking,” said Canton. “But we know sometimes talking leads to other things from individuals who are not as sophisticated.”
The story became even more widespread soon after the New York Times published an article. Shortly after, McAlister sent out an email discussing First Amendment rights and academic freedom.
Leave a Reply
