UC Berkeley professor and top scientist David Romps publicly resigned on Monday after claiming his colleagues refused his request to invite a “canceled” scientist to speak on Berkeley’s campus. Romps was the head of the Berkeley Atmospheric Sciences Center (BASC), writing that the center should be “a purely scientific organization, not a political one.”
“I am resigning as Director of the Berkeley Atmospheric Sciences Center (BASC),” Romps announced Monday on Twitter.
I am resigning as Director of the Berkeley Atmospheric Sciences Center (BASC) @BerkeleyAtmo. To reduce the odds of being mischaracterized, I want to explain my decision here.
— David Romps (@romps) October 18, 2021
The professor went on to explain that “last month, the MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences canceled a science lecture because of the invited scientist’s political views.”
“That scientist does excellent work in areas of interest to BASC (he visited us at our invitation in 2014),” Romps added.
“Therefore, I asked the BASC faculty if we might invite that scientist to speak to us in the coming months to hear the science talk he had prepared and, by extending the invitation now, reaffirm that BASC is a purely scientific organization, not a political one,” he said.
Therefore, I asked the BASC faculty if we might invite that scientist to speak to us in the coming months to hear the science talk he had prepared and, by extending the invitation now, reaffirm that BASC is a purely scientific organization, not a political one.
— David Romps (@romps) October 18, 2021
Romps’ mention of a scientist having been canceled by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) makes it clear the professor was likely referring to geophysicist Dorian Abbot, who made headlines earlier this month after MIT canceled his lecture in response to a woke mob who targeted Abbot for supporting “merit-based evaluations.”
UC Berkeley campus ( Justin Sullivan/Getty)
The woke mob’s cancel culture attack had backfired, as Princeton University later decided to host a remote lecture by Abbot, which thousands of students ended up signing up for.
“Excluding people because of their political and social views diminishes the pool of scientists with which members of BASC can interact and reduces the opportunities for learning and collaboration,” Romps added in a follow-up tweet.
“More broadly, such exclusion signals that some opinions — even well-intentioned ones — are forbidden, thereby increasing self-censorship, degrading public discourse, and contributing to our nation’s political balkanization,” the professor continued.
More broadly, such exclusion signals that some opinions — even well-intentioned ones — are forbidden, thereby increasing self-censorship, degrading public discourse, and contributing to our nation's political balkanization.
— David Romps (@romps) October 18, 2021
“I hold BASC and its faculty — my friends and colleagues — in the highest regard, and so it has been a great honor to serve as BASC’s director these past five years. But it was never my intention to lead an organization that is political or even ambiguously so,” Romps said.
“Consequently, I am stepping down from the directorship at the end of this calendar year or when a replacement is ready, whichever is sooner,” the professor concluded.
Consequently, I am stepping down from the directorship at the end of this calendar year or when a replacement is ready, whichever is sooner.
— David Romps (@romps) October 18, 2021
Romps is a professor in UC Berkeley’s Department of Earth and Planetary Science, a faculty scientist in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, as well as director of BASC, according to the university’s website.
It remains unclear whether Romps is resigning from Berkeley altogether, or just his role as BASC director.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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