It is a “matter of conscience” for students to denounce President Trump, according to a class-wide memo written by a history professor at Cal State San Marcos.
“In this class, we have tried to reimagine the rise of fascism in Germany and its consequences, primarily through the stories of ordinary people living in the Germany of the 1920s, 30s and 40s,” Professor Patty Seleski wrote in an email dated August 16th and obtained by Red Alert Politics.
“It is time that people with consciences speak out. I, you, we run no risks by denouncing a President who encourages neo-Nazis, white supremacists and people who support the KKK, a president who thinks that championing equality and social justice and opposing racism & anti-Semitism & white supremacy, is equally to blame for what happened in Charlottesville.”
Anyone who fails to say that President Trump is “not fit to be President of the United States” is morally complicit and a tacit support of American neo-Nazis and white supremacists, drawing comparisons to individuals who failed to resist the rise of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany, according to Dr. Seleski.
Several students who received the email called it “offensive” and “extremely insulting.”
Angel Torres, a student in Seleski’s class, found it “unethical for the professor to take advantage of her position to push her ideology.”
While Torres supported Rand Paul in the primaries and ended up voting for Gary Johnson, he believes that President Trump deserves a fair shot and that professors like Dr. Seleski are doing the opposite.
“Her claim that Trump endorses neo-Nazis and white supremacists is nothing but a smear. President Donald Trump has condemned racism and disavowed hate groups several times,” Torres told Red Alert Politics. “People making statements that our president is illegitimate or not fit for office undermine our democracy… Republicans are saddened and upset by what occurred in Charlottesville. We do not tolerate any form of political violence, yet leftists continue to turn a blind eye to political violence that is committed within their political spectrum,” Torres continued.
After comparing her students to Sophie Scholl, a “university student of conscience who lost her life because of her commitment to resisting the Nazi regime,” Seleski told them that, “you don’t have to have the bravery of Sophie Scholl and her friends to state unequivocally that President Trump is not fit to be president of the United States, that a man without a moral compass ought not to be our nation’s executive. In fact, you don’t have to be brave at all. If you do not or cannot state this, even in the absence of any threat, then you will embody the meaning of the complicity we talked about in this class.”
Another student in the class, who wished to stay anonymous due to fear of retribution from Seleski, told Red Alert Politics, “It it one thing to have such an outlandish opinion, but to command that we all denounce the President of the United States as being unfit for office is absolutely astonishing. For her to call on us to speak up for our consciences and then tell us what our consciences must say is ridiculous. White supremacist ideology is complete garbage and almost all of us can agree on that, but I found it extremely insulting that she insinuated that by us not condemning President Trump as being unfit for office, we are thereby moral equivalents with those who allowed Hitler to come to power.”
“Professor Seleski is too deep in her own echo chamber to be able to comprehend that people can have legitimate differences of opinion that aren’t driven by hatred, racism, or bigotry. I was utterly shocked to see this concept written as fact and sent to the entire class,” the student continued.
Seleski ended the email with a request to students who disagree with her.
“If you find yourself in any way sympathetic to or supportive of the groups and/or ideas [of the Charlottesville organizers] please don’t enroll in any class of mine ever again. I can’t stop you from doing so, but please know that I really would prefer you to stay away. The only way to root out these evils is to stop tolerating them and the people who embrace them. Our rejection of these evils must be unequivocal,” Seleski concluded.
Alan Leuthe, another student in the class, was most baffled by Seleski’s warning to students of differing opinions.
“It’s just incredible how somebody who is supposed to educate students wants nothing to do with students who she thinks have improper education. If you want to change someone’s mind, you don’t ostracize them further, allowing their ideas to fester, you confront them with facts to try to change their mind,” Leuthe told Red Alert Politics.
This is not the first time Dr. Seleski has purported opinion in the classroom, according to comments on the popular website RateMyProfessors.com
“Do not take her as a professor. You learn things based on her opinion and if you don’t agree with her on your papers, your doomed to a low grade. Many times people had no idea what she wanted answered in her essay questions and she wasn’t always clear on what you could use and what you couldn’t. Very irritable woman, would never recommend her class,” one review states.
Another review reads, “Not open to other ideas, very Nazi like in the way she grades. Has favs in the class, if you are not on her good side you are doomed…”
Neither officials at Cal State San Marcos nor Dr. Seleski returned Red Alert Politics’ request for comment in time for publication.
