Students to Receive College Credit for Anti-Trump Event

By Kody Fairfield

According to a report out of CampusReform (CR), students at Georgetown University taking a course on the AIDs epidemic were awarded class credit for attending what CR referred to as a “radical teach-in” focused on ways to “resist hatred and violence” following the election of Donald Trump.

CR reports that according to the syllabus listed for the class named “The Cultural Politics of HIV in the US and South Africa,” which falls under the Women’s and Gender Studies Department, students were required to attend a World AIDs day event and complete a 2-3 page paper reflecting on the event.

These events were supposed to be off campus and/or required a donation to attend. However, the professor in charge of the course, April Sizemore-Barber, decided to allow her students to attend a teach-in on the University’s campus instead.

“You also have the option of attending this teach in event tomorrow and reflecting on its approach to activism, teaching, and on-campus advocacy. Though it does not directly reflect on HIV, your write up should make an effort to relate it to the class and to world events more generally. What will activism look like under trump? [sic]” Sizemore-Barber explained in her email to her class which was obtained by CR.

CR reports that a student who had taken the course and wished to stay anonymous, spoke with the publication stating that he felt “obligated” to attend the teach-in because “the other options, which were related to AIDs/HIV, were not easily accessible and often required paying a fee, which was not realistic since I am a low-income student.”

The teach-in event offered by the professor as credit took place on December 3, and was called “Teach-In for Radical Hope: Sowing Seeds for Liberation.” It, according to its own description, was a workshop to “channel all the anti-Trump rage into a pro-Liberation rhetoric that moves people into action.”

CR’s report shows pictures of posters from the event including messages such as “Black Lives Matter,” and “No human being is illegal.”

The report continues on to explain that hours of audio taken by the student at the event covers two sessions, with the event stating that they should be resisting and “how to resist.”

According to CR, other student attendees who were clearly anti-Trump had a lot to say. One mentioned that people should resist Trump and his supporters because they are “normalizing and vocalizing and promoting this hatred and violence…. that’s been happening forever in America.” Another said that they cannot work with Trump because “that’s what they tried to do with Hitler.”

“There’s a sentiment like, ‘oh well he’s in the presidency and we have to work together…’ he has literal, literal, white supremacists on his cabinet…That’s what they tried to do with Hitler and it didn’t work…they tried like ‘oh we’ll give him this and we’ll give him that and let him do this’ and then WWII and the Holocaust.”

CR continued on to explain that throughout the session, things such as police brutality, capitalism, ableism, “micro-aggressions,” and “misgendering,” were all discussed. One attendee even mentioned that in order to confront these issues, “violence may be necessary.” The person leading the discussion reportedly responded, “I agree wholeheartedly,” then he warned that it was too “privileged” to be violent and that, “some people can’t afford to do that illegal shit.”

CR states that the anonymous student reported feeling “exhausted from the radical rhetoric that demonized anything to the right of Stalin.”

“It had nothing to do with the course outside of a broader look at general activism against an ‘oppressive’ government,” he told CR.

The student also mentioned to CR that Professor Sizemore-Barber has also taken actual class time to spread anti-Trump dialogue, explaining that she “essentially let two class periods after the election devolve into ‘mourning America’ and Trump bashing.”

CR reports that on November 9, Sizemore-Barber even invited her class to attend an open house with “fellow feminists” in order to process the election.

 “[W]e’re having our program’s open house this afternoon at 3:30 with pizza and the company of fellow feminists,” she wrote. “If you’re interested in learning more about the work we do in Women’s and Gender Studies, or simply want to be in the company of many Nasty Women, please consider stopping by.”

Another email obtained by CR shows Sizemore-Barber mentioning a “time of turmoil” following the election of Donald Trump, the email contained a link to an Everyday Feminism post that gives tips on dealing with family members at Thanksgiving.

“A number of you have mentioned that you’re feeling nervous about being home after this election,” stated Sizemore-Barber. “Everydayfeminism.com has compiled a post-election fact sheet with tips on how to engage with people who disagree with you. I hope this is helpful and that you’re able to reach a space of gratitude, even in this time of turmoil.”

“Professor Sizemore-Barber often assumed that the beliefs of the people in the class ran a narrow spectrum,” the anonymous student told CR. “Professors can be partisan, of course, but it causes issues when they assume all of their students share similar belief systems, even in the Women’s and Gender Studies Department.”

Campus Reform reports that they have reached out to Professor Sizemore-Barber and have not received a response.

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