Glawker's JoPa blasts Pepperdine for closing on-line comment on an upcoming guest speech by Eugene Volokh (who used the N-word once)

 

In an Above the Law post entitled "Law School Invites Professor Who Uses Racial Slurs To Encourage ‘Dialogue,’ Then Shuts Off Comments" JoePa makes some pretty astoundingly off-the-wall statements against Pepperdine and its upcoming guest speaker Eugene Volokh, even playing the "he clerked for Kozinski" card. But a few of his literary gems speak for themselves.

Rewinding to last year, Volokh was asked specifically not to use the n-word given that it’s a racial slur and there’s no academic justification for it in a world where everyone fully understands the expurgated form. Volokh took this earnest student request as the green light to immediately use the n-word, because that’s what libertarians do when confronted with an invitation to live in a civilized society with basic respect for other people. UCLA’s administration put out a general statement about tolerance — in response to another professor blaming Chinese students for COVID — prompting Volokh to launch into a public tantrum about how he refuses to apologize for using racial epithets.

Now in 2021, Volokh is appearing at a Pepperdine event. A coalition of 11 student organizations and a number of protestors petitioned the school to withdraw the invitation given the school’s purported commitment to creating a more inclusive environment. Volokh is an insightful scholar with interesting stuff to say… but so are a lot of people. Rewarding Volokh despite the publicity, a lot of generated by him, surrounding racial slurs seems sickeningly transactional. As though one can get out of all manner of offensive behavior by just being good at their day job. Apropos of nothing, Volokh clerked for Judge Alex Kozinski.

Setting aside the irony of Glasker railing against shutting down on-line comment (without Glawker doing just that, we wouldn't be here), and the gratuitous dig at the Kozinski clerkship, insightful scholars with interesting stuff to say make poor guest speakers because they might exercise free speech and be actually interesting-- especially since the professor in question teaches first amendment law.