A Timeline of the Everygreen College Debacle

The following is my attempt to create a timeline of the Evergreen College debacle.


I. Timeline of events

September 21
Two Students Protest/Disrupt Convocation
Two student protesters, AR Rushet and Lawrence Walker, interrupted the invited speaker at a school event referred to as convocation, holding a sign that said “Evergreen cashes diversity checks but doesn’t care about blacks”.(5) An interview in the student newspaper doesn't shed much light on exactly what it was they were protesting. Though there's nothing of substance, there is a lot of talk about their feelings, such as they feel that people of color are treated "like trophies that are super disposable," and that they are "fundamentally unsupported."(10)  You can read more about the incident here(9) and if you really want to get deep, you can read the disorienting interview with the two students here(10). 

November 18
Bret Weinstein Sends Email Criticizing The Strategic Equity Plan
Prof. Bret Weinstein sent an email via faculty email exchange criticizing the Equity Council's Strategic Equity Plan. 

Essentially, the Strategic Equity Plan shifted the college "from a diversity agenda" to an "equity agenda" by, among other things, requiring an "equity justification" for every faculty hire.(7) Weinstein's email criticized the plan in part saying "From what I have read, I do not believe this proposal will function to the net benefit of Evergreen’s students of color, in the present, or in the future"(5) Though I haven't been able to find a copy of the actual email, Weinstein later elaborated on the issue in his article in The Wall Street Journal which you can read here.

January 11

Students Protest/Disrupt the New Police Chief's Swearing In Ceremony
A group of students, including the two students that disrupted the convocation on September 21, brought noisemakers to the swearing in ceremony of Evergreen State College Chief of Police Stacy Brown, took the microphone from Wendy Endress, V. P. of Student Affairs, and chanted “Fuck cops” and "Death to Pigs".(5)(12) Though this is referred to as a protest, it seems the only thing being protested is the fact that cops exist and that the college has a police force.

When it became clear the "protesters" weren't going to quiet down or surrender the microphone, instead of taking action to deal with the disruption, the school's president George Bridges, chief of police Stacy Brown and other members of the administration simply left the reception, effectively canceling the event.(12)  The college later issued code of conduct violations against AR Rushet and Lawrence Walker.(11)

Benjamin Boyce obtained a short video from someone at the event who recorded the incident on their cell phone which you an watch here.

March 15
Weinstein Sends Email Regarding Day of Absence
Every year Evergreen State College has held a "Day of Absence" when students, staff and faculty of color are invited to meet off campus and participate in discussions on race and other social issues. The idea is to leave the campus without it's minority members so those remaining can "reflect on the meaning of their community without these essential members."(1) The following day there is a "Day of Presence," held on campus with similar activities where all are allowed to participate.

This year it was decided that the event would be changed so that on the "Day of Absence," white members of the college were "invited" to leave the campus and minority members were to remain. According to the student newspaper, the "decision was reached through discussion with POC Greeners who voiced concern over feeling as if they are unwelcome on campus, following the 2016 election."(27)

On March 15, Prof. Bret Weinstein responded to a faculty wide email regarding the upcoming 'Day of Absence', protesting the change in the event. You can read Weinstein's email here. This led to a bit of back and forth from various faculty members and Weinstein. You can read the entire series of emails here.

May 10
Student Sends Facebook Post In An Effort To Make Class Mostly Brown/Black 
Student Jamil A. Bee left a post in a Facebook group for students graduating in 2020 requesting PoC (people of color) to take a Media Works class in an effort to make it a mostly brown/black class. Here is an image of the original post. Trying to point out the hypocritical bigotry of the post, another student, Kai-Avé Douvia, posts a copy of Jamil's message except changing "PoC" and "black/brown" with "white". This sparked a huge uproar in the comments section. Allegedly, these comments have since been deleted.(1)(2)(3)

May 14
Confrontation at the Greenery & Police Question Timeko and Jamil
The back and forth culminated in a confrontation on May 14th at the Greenery cafeteria between Douvia and a group of students. I can't tell from accounts if Jamil was present but it seems the argument primarily involved Douvia and another student named Timeko Williams Jr. Some accounts state that threats were made toward Douvia while other say no threats were made. Regardless Douvia reported to police that threats were made against him.(1)(2)(3)

Later that night, a residential director went to Jamil and Williams rooms and told them they had been requested at Police Services.(1) It looks as if they either arrived at the police station with a large entourage or the group showed up shortly after, as a couple of Facebook videos on Jamil's page show a large group of students waiting around the station. After being questioned the two were released a few hours later with no charges filed but in the eyes of the protesters, as indicated in a press release about a week later, this action by the police of investigating a potentially criminal complaint filed with them, was actually an example of harassing institutional racism.(4)

May 15
Students Take Over Discussion with Candidate
Student protesters took over a scheduled conversation with a candidate for Vice President/Vice Provost of Equity and Inclusion to "talk about recent events and the history of racism and administrative stagnancy on campus."(5)

May 19
Boycott of President's 'Conversation about Race'

On May 18 Wendy Endress, Vice President of Student Affairs,  sends an email regarding the heated Facebook messages, Douvia's report to the police for alleged threats made against him, and police questioning of Williams and Bee. There are allegations that the email Endress sent includes false information about the students who were detained but based on the letter I read here, which is asserted to be the email in question, I'm not sure what the uproar is all about.(5)(13)

Some students called for a boycott of the event in a ridiculous press release you can read here.(14)

May 23
Students Confront Weinstein
In the morning of May 23, a group of about fifty protesters disrupt Bret Weinstein’s class. Though Weinstein tried to have a sensible discussion the mob hurled obscenities at the professor, labeling him a racist and demanding his resignation.

The campus police were called, and they in turn called the County Sheriff’s office for backup.(5) When police arrived, student protesters blocked their way which they say was to protect students of color but looked to me to be nothing more than an attempt to keep them from reaching Weinstein. The students claim that police Officer Timothy O'Dell was inappropriately aggressive when he physically tried to push his way through the students. I didn't see any indication of this in the videos but am curious as to why the protesters that blocked police from getting through weren't arrested as this seems to be a clear example of obstruction.

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Meeting Held By President George Bridges
After confronting Weinstein, the mob confronted George Bridges, the President of the University, and demanded a meeting with him that afternoon. The mob relentlessly harassed, and belittled Bridges and other members of the administration using bigoted and vulgar language.

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Bridges agrees to a meeting which takes place at 4:pm. He kowtows to the students for a bit, then the students begin questioning him, describing their deluded worldviews and making demands. They become more aggressive as the meeting goes on. Eventually it becomes nothing more than a platform for the students to abuse the administrators.

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May 24
Students Barricade Library, Occupy Building & Meet with Administrators
About 200 students gathered for a rally on the campus' central Red Square (appropriately named) then marched to president Bridges' office on the third floor of the library chanting "Hey-hey, ho-ho, these racist teachers have got to go". Students literally blocked entrances with furniture to keep the police out which you can see on this video at 4:05. Again protesters hysterically abused administrators, intimidated faculty, and made slanderous accusations of racism.

Students presented Bridges with a list of demands, requesting that they be addressed by 5 p.m. Friday.(4)(5)

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On another part of the campus, protesters interrupted a faculty meeting that was being held to honor professors who were recently nominated for emeritus status. Standing at the front of the room the protesters scolded the professors for sitting there "eating cake and chewing" instead of supporting the student. 

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Weinstein Told It's Unsafe For Him To Be On Campus
Weinstein stated "Police told me protesters stopped cars yesterday, demanding information about occupants...They believe I was being sought."(25) "“I have been told by the Chief of Police it’s not safe for me to be on campus.” An administrator confirmed the police department advised Weinstein it “might be best to stay off campus for a day or so.”(26)

May 26
George Bridges Addresses Demands
Bridges set a meeting in the Longhouse at 5 p.m. to address the demands made by students. Here's a video of the unbelievable address and further student insanity.

Weinstein Makes Media Appearances
On May 26, Bret Weinstein appears on Tucker Carlson show. Over the next several weeks he appears on various news shows, podcast and YouTube shows including:
May 30 - The Rubin Report
May 30 - The Wall Street Journal
June 2 - Joe Rogan Experience

May 27

Student's Demands Published
Student demands are published in the Cooperpoint Journal.(15)

May 31
Lawmakers Propose Defunding Evergreen
Campus Reform reports that a bill to privatize Evergreen, spearheaded by Republican State Representative Matt Manweller, will be introduced alongside a letter to the state Human Rights Commission requesting an investigation into potential civil rights violations on campus surrounding the incident. Manweller and his colleagues are also discussing the possibility of revoking $24,000,000 in annual funding to Evergreen State College.(20)

June 1
Threat of Violence Closes Campus
On Thursday, June 1st, someone called 911 and told the dispatcher, “Yes, I am on my way to Evergreen now with a .44 Magnum. … I am going to execute as many people on that campus as I can get a hold of. You have that, what’s going on here, you communist scumbag?” The school was immediately shut down as Law Enforcement searched the campus. The campus remained closed on Friday and reopened on Saturday.(16)

June 2 
Faculty Sign Statement of Solidarity with Protesters
More than 50 Evergreen professors signed a statement affirming faculty solidarity with students. It's first two sentences establishes the ridiculous ideology of it's drafters, "We acknowledge that all of us who have power within the institution share responsibility for the racist actions of others. Furthermore, those of us who are white bear a particularly large share of that responsibility." At one point the document specifically demands Weinstein be punished by calling for the administration to "Demonstrate accountability by pursuing a disciplinary investigation against Bret Weinstein according to guidelines in the Social Contract and Faculty Handbook. Weinstein has endangered faculty, staff, and students, making them targets of white supremacist backlash by promulgating misinformation in public emails, on national television, in news outlets, and on social media."

As of 06/19/17, the original Google Docs link to the statement of solidarity shows that it has been removed but I've found copy on scribd here.(17)

June 4
Vigilantes Patrol Campus with Bats
The College Fix reports that a group of vigilantes took to patrolling the campus armed with bats and other weapons. The paper obtained a copy of an email from Vice President for Student Affairs Wendy Endress addressed to "colleagues" which included a message sent to students Sunday by Sharon Goodman, director of Evergreen’s Residential and Dining Service, or RAD, asking the “community patrol” to lay down its weapons. (21)

June 5
Campus Again Closed Due To Threat Investigation
The campus was again closed on Monday June 5 “while law enforcement officials review new external threat information received over the weekend.”(16) 

Campus Graffiti & Vandalism
A later report indicates the closure was actually due to the continued investigation of the original threat, problems with the bat carrying vigilantes and incidents of graffiti and broken windows, which amounted to about $10,000 in damages.(23)

I've collected all the images I could find of graffiti painted throughout the campus here. (Note: I don't know when the graffiti was actually painted.)


June 15
Patriot Prayer Demonstrators Clash With Anarchist Counter Protesters
About 50 or 60 conservative protesters from the group Patriot Prayer marched onto the campus. They were met about 120 masked "anarchists" and students. One arrest was made.(19)

June 16
Graduation Moved Off-Campus
For security reasons, the 2017 graduation ceremony was moved off-campus and relocated to Cheney Stadium.(18)

Vice News Report
Vice News released a video report on the Evergreen protest, which include interviews with some of these students mocking 'free speech'.(24)

June 20
Bridges Testifies In Front of Washington Senate Law and Justice Committee
Bridges spoke at a work session of the Senate Law and Justice Committee regarding the student protests and campus safety. The session also featured testimony from police chief Stacy Brown, Professor Mike Paros, Washington State Patrol chief John Batiste, Thurston County chief Deputy Sheriff Dave Pearsall and Rep. Matt Manweller.(22)

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July 3
Robert Kerekes of Morris Plains, New Jersey was arrested for the telephone threats made on June 1.(28) 


July 12
First Public Board Of Trustees Meeting Since The Unrest
The board listened to short public comments including comments from Bret Weinstein. 

Video1 (entire meeting)


Originally Posted 06/19/17
Last Updated 10/02/17

(1)The Cooperpoint Journal: Students Questioned About Alleged Harassment
(2)Liberty Hangout: I am a Leftist But an Alien Among My Leftist Peers
(3)Evergreen State College Drama: Some Background
(4)The Olympian: Students allege racism, protest administrators at The Evergreen State College
(5)The Cooperpoint Journal: A Year of Events
(6)The Evergreen State College: The Equity Council
(7)The Evergreen State College Equity and Inclusion Council 2016-2017 Strategic Equity Plan
(8)The Wall Street Journal: The Campus Mob Came for Me-and You, Professor, Could Be Next
(9)The Cooperpoint Journal: Confrontation at Convocation
(10)The Cooperpoint Journal: Complete Interview with Lawrence Walker III and AR Rushet
(11)The Cooperpoint Journal: POC Talk Student Conduct Code Violations Used Against Direct Action
(12)The Cooperpoint Journal: Evergreen "Welcomes" New Chief of Police
(13)Alleged email sent by Wendy Endress on May 18th
(14)Call to boycott the "Talk with the President" event on May 19th.
(15)The Cooperpoint Journal: Students Demand Change
(16)Washington Post: Evergreen State College closes again after threat and protests over race
(17)Faculty statement of solidarity with students
(18)KIRO7: Security tight at graduation ceremony for The Evergreen State College
(19)King5: 1 arrested during clashing protests at Evergreen State College
(20)Campus Reform: Lawmakers propose defunding Evergreen State amid protests
(21)The College Fix: Evergreen official asks student vigilantes to stop patrolling campus armed with bats, batons
(22)The News Tribune: Evergreen president wants more money for campus police
(23)The Washington Post: Evergreen State College reopens after violent threat and property damage on campus
(24)Vice News: Evergreen State College Controversy
(25)The Washington Times: Students Berate Professor Who Refused To Participate In No Whites 'Day Of Absence'.
(26)King 5 News: Professor told he's not safe on campus after college protests
(27)The Cooperpoint Journal: Day of Absence Changes Form
(28)Daily Record: Morris Plains man arrested for phone threats to college.