‘Seattle Times’ Columnist Weighs In on Professor Peter Ratener

In today’s Seattle Times, opinion columnist Bruce Ramsey pens a column about Professor Peter Ratener of Bellevue Community College, whose case FIRE took up last month. For those who don’t remember, Professor Ratener had the misfortune to write a math exam question that involved both a watermelon and a person named Condoleezza, leading to punishment from his college. Ramsey’s column looks at the issue from the perspective of other Bellevue professors—and what he finds isn’t good news for those who care about free speech on campus. Key quote:

“What I learned last spring,” says a BCC prof, “is that if I offend somebody, intentionally or not, and that person goes to the media, I’m screwed."

Check out Ramsey’s interesting column for more.