Students’ objection to curriculum should not cause job loss

August 1, 2023

The old-timers among us look around and are stunned, shocked, and in disbelief at some of what they see going on.

One of those things is the “cancel culture,” where people who don’t like or are offended by something or someone proceed to “cancel” it or them. That means having statues torn down or the name of a building changed, or ruining the life or career of a person.

Quite often, the subject of the “cancelation” is someone or something about which the cancelers only know enough to be upset about it or them. And quite often, the cancelers don’t know the whole story behind the subject.

Another one is the idea that if someone is born a male or a female, and they are uncomfortable with that, they can indulge in chemical and/or surgical processes and try to change their gender to the other one.

These ideas did not exist several decades ago, or if they did, they weren’t talked about very much.

Today, the meaning of the idea of “gender” is very broad and fluid among some folks. And there has become a sort of underground rule that these ideas must be accepted by everyone, regardless of what people know or believe.

A recent news item tells the story of a biology professor, Dr. Johnson Varkey. He has been an adjunct professor of biology at St. Philip's College in San Antonio, Texas for 19 years. And during that time, he has taught Human Anatomy and Physiology to some 1,500 students.

On November 28, 2022, four of Varkey's students walked out of his class when he stated that sex was determined by X and Y chromosomes, just as he always had during his years teaching at the college. Shortly thereafter, he was fired.

However, the school allegedly fired him for teaching his students “that sex was determined by X and Y chromosomes and that reproduction must occur between a male and a female to continue the human species,” according to a report by Fox News Digital. “Despite the fact that Varkey taught from the school-approved and science-based curriculum, St. Philip's College claims his teaching was religious.”

In response to his being fired, Varkey wrote in a communiqué to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, in which he said, "I also explained that when a sperm (which has 23 chromosomes) joins with an egg (which also has 23 chromosomes), a zygote (which has 46 chromosomes) is formed, and it begins to divide, and after 38 weeks a baby is born. Because no information is added or deleted in those 38 weeks, life starts when the zygote begins to divide, not when the baby is born."

The Fox report noted that “in his notice of termination letter, St. Philip’s College said the complaint against him contained several reports of ‘religious preaching, discriminatory comments about homosexuals and transgender individuals, anti-abortion rhetoric, and misogynistic banter.’ The college claims he violated ‘the highest standards of academic honesty and integrity,’ but provided no explanation or reasoning for its accusation.”

"It saddens me that we have come to the place where, in an institution of higher learning, the feelings and opinions of the students are allowed to usurp the facts of science," Varkey told Fox. 

Is there a sensible explanation for why, after 19 years of teaching the same biology course based upon a long-approved curriculum, the college suddenly accepts the allegation of four students that Varkey’s presentation of the course material is religious, discriminatory against some students, anti-abortion and misogynistic? 

In opposing his firing, Varkey’s First Liberty Institute (FLI) attorneys have argued that his classroom work is based upon his biological education and experience, and also his religious beliefs. They also state that "throughout his employment, he never discussed with any student his personal views — religious or otherwise — on human gender or sexuality."

Are college professors and others now expected to adjust the presentation of their subjects so that they don’t offend their students, even if that means abandoning long-held and scientifically sound principles?

“No college professor should be fired for teaching factual concepts that a handful of students don’t want to hear," Keisha Russel, Counsel for FLI and the lead attorney on Varkey’s case, told Fox News Digital. "When public universities silence their own professors from teaching true concepts to students, education has been turned on its head."

The Alamo Colleges District, of which St. Philip’s College is a part, told Fox News Digital it does not comment on personnel issues. 

Science is a process of investigation. At some point, a theory gains acceptance as a general truth, as no different evidence has been presented for a long time. But there is always a chance that something will come along. Therefore, “settled science” is not always settled.

However, the science of gender has not been challenged by new scientific evidence, and two genders reign as the general truth. Colleges and universities ought to be substantially more thoughtful about when they endorse ideas that are significantly different than what is considered the correct scientific position.

And certainly, this situation ought not to have cost a long-time professor his job.

Florida takes a stand for parent’s rights to protect their children

What is basic education? It is the process of helping youngsters in their early years to gain knowledge, skills and understanding of important, fundamental areas of living as a human being. These things are taught in the home and in schools, and for some, in religious activities.

And in schools, at first, the focus is on learning basic things like the ABCs, then how to read, speak and write; how to count, and then to add, subtract, multiply and divide. With each year of age comes more complex learning. 

Young minds are only capable of basic learning, which is why the early years focus on the basics. What children learn in the early years will stick with them. Which is why they need to be taught by parents and in school about fundamentals, like honesty, kindness, fairness, clear thinking, respect for others, and working to achieve. 

Young minds are evolving, and are malleable. In their early years, children have little ability to evaluate the good or bad of things with which they come in contact. That is why parents must be sure they are not exposed to harmful ideas, and why they must be watchful for efforts to “mold” the young in certain harmful ways.

Such things as gender identity, that there are more than two genders, whether they like being a boy or girl, or would rather transition to another gender, are not appropriate. Bringing up what the letters LGBT mean. Teaching that people of color are oppressed, and white people are oppressors. These concepts are unsuitable for K-3 children, and perhaps some older ones, as well.

While the denials are strong, the fact is that some schools and some teachers are taking advantage of the malleable nature of children in kindergarten and the early grades to put harmful ideas into the curricula that most parents do not support. These ideas are being secretly introduced into classrooms, as neither school boards nor the public have given them official and public approval.

This subversive behavior has raised the ire of parents in some states, as they resent the effort to remove from them the obvious authority they have over how their children are treated. And in Florida, the Legislature has acted on their behalf.

On March 28, the Governor’s website (flgov.com) said the following: “Today, Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill (HB) 1557, Parental Rights in Education, which reinforces parents’ fundamental rights to make decisions regarding the upbringing of their children. The bill prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through 3rd grade and prohibits instruction that is not age appropriate for students and requires school districts to adopt procedures for notifying parents if there is a change in services from the school regarding a child’s mental, emotional or physical health or well-being. The bill builds on the Parents’ Bill of Rights, which was signed into law in Florida last year, and is part of Governor DeSantis’ Year of the Parent focus on protecting parental rights in education.”

Gender activists and opponents of this bill call it the “The Don’t Say Gay” bill, even though the term “gay” does not appear in the text of the legislation. Reacting not to the bill itself and its purpose, but to the activists’ mischaracterization of it as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, opposition to Gov. DeSantis’ position and the legislation has gained a following.

And the once red-blooded American company, the Walt Disney Company, has taken exception to this child-protecting law. The company’s CEO, Bob Chapek, intends to work for the repeal of the law.

The company’s position has angered a group of its employees, which wrote an unsigned letter claiming Disney has embraced a “progressive orthodoxy” that has created an “environment of fear” in employees that are not progressives.

 “The Walt Disney Company has come to be an increasingly uncomfortable place to work for those of us whose political and religious views are not explicitly progressive,” the letter said, as reported by the New York Post. “We watch quietly as our beliefs come under attack from our own employer, and we frequently see those who share our opinions condemned as villains by our own leadership.” 

Responding to Disney’s opposition to the bill, DeSantis’ said this in a Twitter post: “The state of Florida is governed according to the interests of the people, not according to the political posturing of corporate executives in California. We will never allow corporate influence to repeal the substantive rights of parents in our state.”

Someone posted a meme on Facebook which read: “It’s not about homosexuality or heterosexuality. Stop promoting sexuality to our children, PERIOD. Let kids be kids.” So far, this common-sense post has not been taken down.

People who support DeSantis’ position are being accused of being “anti-gay” or “anti-trans.” But wanting to protect the youngest school children from potential indoctrination of a subject that could harm them for the rest of their lives is not “anti-gay” or “anti-trans.” It is pro-children.

Mature individuals will have plenty of time to decide how they spend their adult years after they have progressed sufficiently to make such decisions.