Two Scary People
Director of Religious and Spiritual Life Protects Students From Jane Weihe
Saratoga Black Lives Matter organized what they called a “teach-in” at Skidmore College on Friday, March 1. The meeting’s purpose was stated as “How Students Start a Movement from Palestine and Cop City to Saratoga Springs”.
Approximately twenty students, along with the college Director of Religious and Spiritual Life (apparently the title of what maybe used to be called a chaplain) and someone who identified themselves as being I think with the Office of Student Diversity.
Samira Sangare of Black Lives Matter was in charge of the event.
When the meeting began, Jane and I were sitting quietly in the last row of Emerson auditorium. A young man from BLM approached us and asked us politely to leave. We declined.
Jane and I were then approached by the Director of Religious and Spiritual Life. She also asked us to leave. She told us that the meeting was for students only and we were not allowed to attend.
Jane and I initially declined to leave. I was going to try to address the students to talk about the history of teach-ins which began as a response to the war in Vietnam.
In those years, teach-ins encouraged broad discussions. At the University of Wisconsin, where I was an undergraduate, they sometimes included representatives from the government who were there to defend the U.S. involvement in the war. There was no doubt that the exchanges were often spirited, but no one was silenced or asked to leave. People believed in the power of their ideas, and they were happy to defend them.
I agreed to step out in the hall with the Religious/Spiritual Director. She was courteous but insistent that we leave. I noted to her that colleges at one time encouraged dialogue and that it seemed unhealthy (I thought to myself, spiritually as well as intellectually) to remove people from a teach-in because they may not share your views. I was struck by how sad it was that this clearly intelligent and caring person should see her job as “protecting” students from ideas. I thought it was unhealthy for our democracy when people who shut down debate at a college are empowered by the institution.
In the meantime, Jane was still in her seat in the auditorium, and she was being confronted by the administrator from the Diversity Department and Sangare. Jane repeatedly asked Sangare, “What is going to be said here that you do not want us to hear?” Sangare did not reply.
The Diversity Administrator told Jane she needed to leave because she was making the students feel unsafe. Jane pointed out that she is an alumna of Skidmore College, that she is five foot three, and that she is seventy-six years old, an unlikely threatening presence. The Diversity person responded that a “Threat is not always a physical threat and that you should know that.” She told Jane, “I’m on the students’ side. I am here to protect the students.”
I decided that we should leave, and I returned to the auditorium. I thought I would still try to address the students. I was going to talk about the need in social movements to welcome dialogue, but I had gotten only a few words out when, Sangare shouted that I was John Kaufmann and urged people to clap so that I could not be heard which they did. To see them all clapping to silence me was truly disturbing. It was rather cultlike.
There are so many grim ironies here. To begin with, there is the fact that Sangare had repeatedly been instrumental in shutting down City Council meetings by shouting over the other members of the public and the Council.
There is also the obvious issue that a college is supposed to be a place where conflicting ideas can be discussed. Consider this excellent statement from Skidmore’s President, Marc Connor:
The response on some campuses has been, ‘thou shalt not,’ don’t let them say that, shut them down, censor that. And I understand that, you hear speech that you truly hate. The desire is to stop that speech. One of the things I’ve been saying on our campus is, the speech that we hate is not therefore ‘hate speech.’ Hate speech is very specific. It’s connected to immediate violence, intimidation, or harassment. There are things we hear that are offensive, but what that really is, is contested speech. It is speech that can mean multiple things. A slogan that is hateful in one context has a very different meaning in another context. And what is so important about contested speech is it needs to be engaged, needs to be interpreted, and it needs to be debated. And this, again, is something that college campuses are uniquely poised to do great privilege.
Marc Conner to WAMC
Well, apparently, his message did not reach the Religious/Spiritual Director or the administrator from the Office of Diversity or the students present at this “teach-in”.
Saratoga Springs Politics 
disgusting behavior from our local indoctrination camp.
Where are these deans and administrators while their students are getting obliterated drunk and loaded into their cars to drive home at 11:30pm on a Saturday night?
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I am APPALLED by this report of how the students at a Skidmore Teach-In (not to mention their advisors) treated Jane. As a Skidmore alum and long time fiend of Jane, I can assure these students that they have just stabbed a true white ally, which BLM has been calling for, in the back as well as in the heart. Why? I remember the frustration of the civil rights and peace movements of the 60’s only too well. But we learned to identify and embrace our allies, not reject them. If these students really want to promote change, at their school, their communities, their country or the world, they would be a lot better served by learning to control their angry impulses and collaborate rather than by cutting off their noses to spite their faces!
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Going back to the “dark ages” – so much for enlightening hearts and minds. These are the real fascists, maybe if they looked the mirror at their own actions it would dawn on them that they are their own worse enemy. REAP what you SOW… but you would need a real CHAPLIN to know that….
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So they are going back to the “DARK AGES” – so more for enlightening the hearts and minds.
“Reap what you Sow”…. if you had a real CHAPLIN maybe these lost souls would have a chance to open their minds to alternate perspectives. If your TEACH IN can’t stand any scrutiny, then the Skidmore President should take a more active role in the “safety” of his students if they are so fragile of intellect.
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Unacceptable behavior from Skidmore.
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This is the problem… it’s hidden racism in plain sight. Shame on you Skidmore College and students as a whole! 😔💔
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guess the main thing I am struggling with is the teach part of this teach in. What exactly is going to be taught or learned? Were there any actual professors there? Even without professors present, it lacks substance. What action is going to be precipitated by this teach-in?
The last BLM teach-in at Skidmore was on April 26, 2023. The following week, the May 2, 2023 City Council meeting was shut down by BLM with a large backdrop of Skidmore students with signs. They held signs and joined in the shouted, repetitive chanting over people, halting regular governmental business. So lesson 1 must have been make signs, shout and repeat endlessness until the meeting is shut down.
I’m not sure what adding more puppets to the show really accomplished. The lack of intellect in engagement is staggering. Will lesson 2 include more puppets in the music hall? Will there be signs or will there be clapping? The biggest question is will there be a real purpose? If you are recruiting puppets to perform, make it meaningful. Otherwise leave the teaching to professors and puppets to Jeff Dunham.
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I understand why you might criticize the “teach in,” but do you think you have the right to address anyone on campus, or a campus group, BECAUSE you have a Saratoga politics blog? Or that Jane is an alumna? Why don’t you organize your own meeting with a sympathetic student group or professor?
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In answer to your questions:
No, I do not think I have the “global” right to address any individual or group on Skidmore, whether I am a blogger or an individual. Similarly, Jane shares this sentiment about herself.
We have the good fortune of having Skidmore in our community, and we frequently attend lectures and concerts sponsored by Skidmore on their campus.
The digital flyer on the teach-in online simply announced the teach-in. It did not include anything about exclusions. As such, I assumed it was open to the wider community. I went to the event without a plan to speak. It seemed inconsistent with the principles of the tradition of teach-ins to exclude Jane and me. We had been sitting quietly in the last row of the hall. We were making no attempt to commandeer the event. When asked to leave I attempted to respond referencing the meaning of teach-ins. I agree with you that it would have been inappropriate for me to have attempted to take over the event.
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I don’t believe John is against BLM . He is calling out the local group who use inappropriate and juvenile tactics to garner recognition. He has done the same with inappropriate behavior of council members. The clapping of hands to drown him out is another juvenile tactic.
The students felt unsafe. How utterly ridiculous! Who came up with that reason? Best they could do to achieve their goal.
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I truly expected more from the College of Skidmore. Nothing changes by thinking, inappropriately, that you can shut down any thoughts you disagree with. Silencing the other side thru yelling over them doesn’t change their minds or their actions, it just makes issues worse.
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Higher education in America has lost its way! Employers consume the products of our higher education system. I believe I speak for a growing majority of employers when I say there’s an alarming increase in disappointment and dissatisfaction with lack of workforce readiness and inability of many college graduates to make positive and meaningful contributions to society.
Higher education has lost its way. The product it sells (e.g., degrees) costs too much, takes way too long to acquire, and is inaccessible to many. More and more, the mission of higher education is to protect the status quo—an emphasis on “teaching”, organized around major subject areas aligned to the interests of tenured professors rather than “learning” targeted at equipping students with the skills and experiences that align with their interests and equip them to become productive contributors to society.
“I’m here to protect the students”. This says it all. Shame on you, Skidmore! Life outside the cloistered environment of a college campus is indeed complicated and scary. Institutions of higher education that emphasize learning experiences over rote teaching know the importance of exposing students to real world situations. An experiential approach to your mission would inspire students to seek out, consider and understand opposing points of view. You would help them understand that addressing issues and solving problems requires so much more than tweets, texts and posts to social media from the comfort and safety of their mobile devices or waving banners at demonstrations and behaving in a way that makes for a self-serving “look at me” selfie posted to social media but has the unintended consequence of alienating the audience they’re hoping to reach. Help them learn real world leadership skills, Skidmore. Help them learn the art and science of bringing together multiple stakeholders and inspiring change.
A learning moment for Skidmore and BLM. Thank you, John and Jane, for sharing your unfortunate experience. If Skidmore had even a modicum of situational awareness, they would have flipped the script and offered their own “teach in” to help BLM leadership and Skidmore students learn a more constructive and effective approach to advancing their cause. Experienced and effective leaders know “what” we say is important; “how” we convey our message is far more important. When Saratoga BLM disrupts City Council meetings, when they snatch the microphone from citizens trying to participate in their government, when they hurl expletives and spray vitriol at those with differing points of view, the message is lost. Saratoga BLM’s impact is dying from self-inflicted wounds. In the eyes and minds of many Capital area residents, they’ve made themselves irrelevant; their demonstrations have devolved to nothing more than a public nuisance in service to self-aggrandizement.
This is your opportunity, Skidmore, to serve as a force for good, to be part of a solution rather than fanning the flames of an ill-defined problem. If you were to venture beyond the walls of your campus, you might be pleasantly surprised to learn that a majority of the community actively supports and practices diversity and inclusion. We do that in the broadest possible sense and in a manner that promotes equity for all groups, not just the narrow interests of BLM.
To quote an Irish proverb, “If it’s drowning you’re after, don’t torment yourself with shallow water”. Let’s step back and swim upstream to clearly identify the problem various groups believe we need to solve – I suspect there are multiple definitions – and then set our minds to addressing the problem in a civil and constructive manner.
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Regarding the clapping to drown out speech the Skidmore students didn’t want to hear…
Does anyone remember “Animal Farm” by George Orwell, where sheep bleat “four legs good, two legs bad!” to drown out whatever speech/ideas the increasingly dictatorial leaders object to? At Skidmore, the sheep clap instead.
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Speaking of clapping, it was interesting to watch the video of the March 5 City Council public comment period. Many Skidmore Students spoke about BLM and the Teach In that was (almost) attended by John and his wife Jane. Commenters were repeatedly interrupted by loud clapping by the audience. Once again, foul language was used and it was a challenge for Mayor Safford to return to a civil discussion of sensitive matters.
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The mayor appears to be losing the battle for civility. The anger displayed by the leader and members of BLM appears to be getting worse not better.
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Was this a public meeting? was the public invited to attend?
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It was simply advertised as a BLM teach-in at Skidmore College.
It announced the event would explore building a movement. Cop City (struggle over cutting down a forest to build a police training facility in Atlanta), Palestine, and Saratoga Springs.
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It’s ironic that the Skidmore Campus is dotted with flags that read “Creative thought matters.”
From the Skidmore.edu website: “A simple, bold philosophy. At Skidmore College, we declare that Creative Thought Matters. Not just in the arts, but in science, business, economics, the humanities, and every other endeavor. We have an altogether different way of doing things here, and it all starts with our commitment to creative thinking.”
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