Students at West Virginia University Protest Appearance by Scientific Racist

J. Philippe Rushton, professor of psychology at the University of Western Ontario, was invited to lecture on the campus of West Virginia University. Rushton is also president of the Pioneer Fund, a foundation that has funded research seeking to prove that blacks are genetically less intelligent than whites. Over the years, Rushton has conducted research which he says shows that blacks have smaller heads, smaller brains, and larger sex organs than do whites.

During a break between classes, students, faculty, and staff joined to protest the Rushton address. Protesters carried signs that read, “You call it science, we call it racism” and “Is Rosa Parks Inferior?” The protesters marched to the hall where Rushton was scheduled to give his address, chanting, “Educate, don’t discriminate.”

Rushton gave his talk as planned but did not address racial differences.

Copyright © 2009. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.