Students At Georgetown University Law are Demanding Space to Cry

Georgetown Law Students have demanded catered food and a dedicated crying area during a sit-in protest over the firing of professor Ilya Shapiro.

QUICK FACTS:
  • Law students from Georgetown University have demanded that the university reimburse them for catered food during a protest according to The Washington Examiner.
  • Students protesting the firing of professor Ilya Shapiro met with the school’s dean, William Treanor, on Tuesday, and in addition to the food stipend, the students also required a dedicated area to cry.
  • Students cited their frustration with not having an area to “break down” other than the bathrooms during their protest of the school’s hesitancy to fire embattled professor Ilya Shapiro over comments about the potential next Supreme Court Justice.
  • Treanor said that the student’s comments were helpful, and it was particularly difficult to be dealing with issues revolving around race during Black History Month.
WHAT THOSE INVOLVED SAID:
  • “I don’t know what it would look like, but if they want to cry, if they need to break down, where can they go? Because we’re at a point where students are coming out of class to go to the bathroom to cry,” one student protester said.
  • “It is really hard to walk out of class or a meeting in tears, and you should always have a place on campus where you can go … reach out to me anytime — anytime — and we will find you space,” dean of students Mitch Bailin replied.
BACKGROUND:
  • Students at Georgetown staged a demonstration to support the firing of Shapiro after the professor tweeted criticism of President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court, according to Business Insider.
  • Shapiro was slated to start as a professor at the university on February 1 but was placed on administrative leave because of the controversy. 
  • Frustration over Shapiro’s comments led to one student floating the idea of defunding the Center for the Constitution “if, worst-case scenario,” Shapiro “were allowed to remain,” according to The National Review.

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