by Ben Zeisloft
An adjunct professor berated a student in her class after he expressed support for law enforcement.
Cypress College student Braden Ellis (pictured right) delivered a presentation about cancel culture during a Zoom communications class. In a phone interview with Campus Reform, Ellis affirmed The Daily Wire’s report that he had been discussing the attempted cancellation of “Paw Patrol” during the presentation.
“So you brought up the police in your speech a few times. So, what is your main concern?” asked the adjunct professor (pictured left). “Since, I mean, honestly… the issue is systemic. Because the whole reason we have police departments in the first place, where does it stem from? What’s our history? Going back to what [another classmate] was talking about, what does it stem from? It stems from people in the south wanting to capture runaway slaves.”
“Maybe they shouldn’t be heroes. Maybe they don’t belong on a kid’s show,” offered a classmate.
“I disagree with what [my classmate] said,” replied Ellis. “I think cops are heroes and they have to have a difficult job. But we have to—”
“All of them?” asked the adjunct professor, cutting off Ellis’ remarks.
Ellis suggested that a “good majority” of officers are heroes, prompting the adjunct professor to assert that “a lot of police officers have committed atrocious crimes and have gotten away with it and have never been convicted of any of it.”
“Yes, I understand,” said Ellis. “This is what I believe … This is not popular to say, but I do support our police. And we have bad people, and the people that do bad things should be brought to justice, I agree with that.”
“They haven’t,” said the adjunct professor. Ellis then repeated that he believed in bringing corrupt officers to justice.
“So, what is your bottom line point? You’re saying police officers should be revered? Viewed as heroes? They belong on TV shows [for] children?” the adjunct professor shot back.
“I think they are heroes in a sense because they come to your need and they come and help you,” responded Ellis. They have problems just like every other business, but we should fix that—”
“It’s not a business,” said the adjunct professor, again cutting off Ellis. “I think that’s the problem, is looking at it as a business. Because they’re actually supposed to protect and serve the people.”
Later in the exchange, the adjunct professor asserted that she does not trust the police because her life is “in more danger” in their presence.
Ellis told Campus Reform that although the adjunct professor has also cut off left-leaning students, she “does not like Republican views.” Ellis believes that this disagreement is acceptable as long as the class can have a civil discussion. However, he “does not really see” such discussions often in his communications class.
“Republicans like me… need to get smarter, tougher, and stronger, and fight back against this liberal agenda,” said Ellis. “And do it with gentleness and respect. Don’t do it with the way they do it, because nothing makes a Democrat or a liberal more mad than when you give them facts with gentleness and respect, and you don’t raise your voice.”
He encouraged other conservative-leaning students to “speak out” in a respectful manner about the veracity of Republican policies.
In a statement, Cypress College Director of Communications, Marc Posner, said that the adjunct professor “will be taking a leave of absence for the duration of her assignment at Cypress College.”
“Cypress College takes great pride in fostering a learning environment for students where ideas and opinions are exchanged as a vital piece of the educational journey. Our community fully embraces this culture; students often defend one another’s rights to express themselves freely, even when opinions differ. Any efforts to suppress free and respectful expression on our campus will not be tolerated,” Posner said.
Campus Reform reached out to Cypress College for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.
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Ben Zeisloft is a Campus Reform Student Editor and Pennsylvania Senior Campus Correspondent, reporting on liberal bias and abuse for Campus Reform. He is studying Finance and Marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Benjamin also writes for The UPenn Statesman and the Wharton International Business Review.
