☆ Soon-to-be-ousted SJSU prof: University all for viewpoint diversity, until the “cancel culture mob” whines
In 2021, tenured San Jose State University Anthropology professor Elizabeth Weiss was punished—her research facility access was revoked after a scathing public letter by the Provost—for posting a Twitter picture of herself with a human skull. Weiss's legal challenge just reached a settlement, contingent on her resignation from SJSU. Here, she exclusively discusses the university's “cowardly” submission to Woke cancel culture with Opp Now.
Opportunity Now: Can you explain what happened with San Jose State? Was it as simple as them condemning your seemingly well-intentioned Twitter post?
Elizabeth Weiss: Well, this begins with my view on repatriation. I have always held the same perspective: I oppose the reburial of bones because I believe studying them teaches us a lot about the past. I have expressed this viewpoint since my job interview back in 2003 or 2004 and even wrote one of my first articles on the subject.
Then, I published a book on repatriation in 2020. SJSU celebrated it by awarding me the highest scholarly award in the social sciences. Nobody then was complaining about my beliefs, so SJSU was happy to say they were for viewpoint diversity. But as soon as people started complaining, and there was a movement to cancel me (an open letter calling to remove my book from libraries), the university started to sing a different tune. This cancel culture mob, this group of pro-repatriation activists made SJSU lose their spine—so to speak—and viewpoint diversity was no longer important to them. So that's what led to them condemning my Twitter post, and restricting my research freedoms.
ON: So there were people labeling your views on repatriation insensitive and even racist, and that made SJSU nervous. And then your picture on Twitter was the scapegoat?
EW: The picture of me with a skull on Twitter really was insignificant. What's more, the department had multiple times asked me to pose with skeletal remains for promotional materials.
Nevertheless, I shared this picture because I was genuinely happy to be back conducting research with skeletal remains after Covid-era restrictions. Had there not been a cancel culture mob targeting me at that time, the picture would have been a non-issue. It was an ordinary occurrence blown out of proportion by individuals who were already upset by a Mercury News op-ed I'd gotten published. In that article, I spoke out against the notion that Native American perspectives should always override scientific data when the two are opposed (so, for instance, you'd have to defer to an oral myth if that contradicted established science).
In a way, had SJSU just let the hysteria roll over, it would have been okay. But they published statements and took retaliatory actions I considered inappropriate. For instance, they locked me out of SJSU's research facility and removed me from my curation responsibilities, which involved ensuring that skeletal collections were being cared for. Throughout this process, the university refused to retract their statements, but they backed down on several actions because I filed a lawsuit against them. I regained my access to just San Jose State's non-native remains, but it took ten months.
ON: At any point, did the university speak with you about the racism accusations? Or did they go full-force into disciplinary actions?
EW: No, they did things behind my back. Their actions were cowardly. I reached out to the Provost after his letter, saying, let's talk about this and correct the misunderstanding; but he had no intention of doing so.
Without telling me about it, my department chair gave a talk to a national organization on what to do when a colleague is branded as a racist. The dean and chair decided that we should keep resources away from this person (they gave me a pseudonym), give me a bad post-tenure evaluation, and maybe even take me out of the classroom if I taught my opinion. I know all of this because I went on the Zoom webinar call.
These are people I've worked with 18 yrs. And I've never had issues with students or colleagues about racism.
ON: And now you're leaving SJSU. Explain what led you to that settlement decision.
EW: Ultimately, SJSU offered me a settlement where I would resign without retirement. I turned this offer down, but made a counter offer in which I would retire with full benefits and emeritus status in 2024. I've taught for 20 years and feel it's time to leave. Technically, I'll have my full salary for the upcoming year (I applied for difference of pay leave and got approved, but this has been changed to a full salary leave instead), as I've been chosen to be a part of New York's Heterodox Academy. So I'll go to New York for a year and then retire from SJSU.
If I stayed at San Jose State, I'd be relegated to a glorified lecturer position because I still have don't have much research facility access. And the other skeletal collection we have (from Carthage) is poorly preserved and quite small because it was looted during historical times.
Even though I'm retiring, I'll continue to fight what I view as the promotion of superstition creation myths over scientific research. I'll pursue new research opportunities. So I don't think this is a sad thing for academic freedom. I was never suspended, removed, or fired. I didn't do anything wrong. And I never apologized.
Read Opp Now’s next chat with Dr. Weiss, about De Anza College terminating its “not Woke enough” director Tabia Lee, here.
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Image by Wikimedia Commons
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