Washington Legislator Proposes Bill to Strip Evergreen of State Funding

A Washington legislator has proposed a bill that would strip Evergreen State College of state funding and turn it into a private college.

Representative Matt Manweller wants to strip Evergreen State College of all of its state funding, which would turn the institution into a private college. Manweller has proposed legislation that, if passed, would force Evergreen to fund itself through tuition and donations.

“When you cross the line and start attacking a Jewish professor, when you cross the line and you start telling white people or anybody based on their skin color that they can’t come to school, that violates our anti-discrimination laws,” Manweller said. Evergreen Professor Bret Weinstein has faced calls for his resignation over his refusal to participate in the “Day of Absence,” an event in which all white community members were asked to leave campus.

Manweller suggests that Evergreen’s public funding should be given to the University of Washington’s STEM departments to promote technological innovation and competition with countries around the globe.

“Let’s take that money and give it to the UW engineering program, STEM programs, math, science,” Manweller added. “Let’s go compete on the global market again with the Chinese, the Japanese, the Indians and bring America back to technological prominence. Let’s spend the money on a credible degree rather than a social justice, victimization, woe-is-me, I want reparations, pseudo-science they are teaching at Evergreen.”

Manweller claims that Evergreen administrators are endorsing bigotry by sympathizing with student protesters who are wreaking havoc on the college’s campus. President George Bridges praised the “courage” of the protesters who demanded Weinstein’s resignation and forced him to hold class off campus in a nearby park due to police concerns for his security.

“These guys are out of control,” Manweller added. “They are openly advocating for racism and bigotry. It’s not appropriate to be spending taxpayer money on that. If they want to be a private institution and pursue their bizarre, bigoted ideology, that’s their prerogative. But taxpayers shouldn’t have to fund it.”

Tom Ciccotta is a libertarian who writes about economics and higher education for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @tciccotta or email him at tciccotta@breitbart.com