College Faces Backlash for Its Anti-White Cis Man Paint Night

With a flyer that sounded like an ad for hemorrhoid cream, a senior at Gettysburg College planned a project that would feature artwork from the student body that would be publicly displayed. The flyer that was posted on campus was also featured in the College Fix, and read: “Tired of white cis men? Come and paint & write about it. Saturday, Nov 12, 7-9 PM, Gender and Sexuality Resource Center. To be displayed for Junction.”

To its credit, the flyer is nicely done with warm tones and images of palettes, brushes, pens, and paint. It looks like it might be a nice way to spend an evening. Unless of course, you are a white cis man, in which case the paint and brushes might be replaced with tar and feathers. The above-mentioned Gender and Sexuality Resource Center was a sponsor of the event, which was part of a senior project in Peace and Justice Studies. (Note to future students: any major or class that ends with the word “studies” probably will not provide you with any real-life skills.)

Young America’s Foundation (YAF) reports that not everyone in the student body was pleased with the idea. Andrew Breschard, a leader of the college’s YAF chapter, along with a contingent of other YAF students, submitted complaints. Why? Because the event was racist and sexist. Breschard stated, “The fact that the college has permitted an event of this nature contradicts every narrative about inclusion that has been put forth by the college in recent years.”

According to Fox News, the event has been postponed. A senior at the school said:

Normally, rhetoric on posters of this nature tends to be more inclusive and welcoming to the target student groups. But this rhetoric is simply divisive. The faculty on campus always preaches unity among students on campus but never actually do anything to enact this unity. The school should not allow this type of rhetoric as it openly and boldly defies what the college says they want to achieve from their student body.

The senior also said that this and other similar events made them feel like the school is incompetent and that it only allows ideas and concerns that it would like to promote. The student added that most of their peers “are angered and discouraged that the school is improving not just from this event but many other events that have occurred before this.” The school hosted a drag show a few weeks prior to the proposed paint night.

YAF also notes that a few weeks earlier, the local chapter hosted Dr. Ryan T. Anderson to speak on the topic of left-wing gender ideology. The article says that the members of the administration organized eight counter-events.

The painting event did not sit well with several alumni, with one noting that antics such as this could impact future giving.

If you are old enough to remember the ’70s, this PSA may be familiar to you:

If that PSA were to be remade today, the grandfather would have told the child he was prejudiced for not first asking about Jimmy’s pronouns and demanding that Jimmy denounce Israel. Then he would have told his grandson to apologize for his implicit guilt for years of white patriarchy and violent heteronormative aggression.