BSU Says Investigation Showed No Evidence of Student Being “Degraded”
By Greg Pruett • May 26, 2021Several months ago, Boise State University hired an outside firm to investigate their University Foundations (UF 200) classes after an alleged video was purported to exist of a BSU student being “degraded” because they were white, and several other complaints about the UF course.
Boise State suspended the class for approximately one week before reinstating it and hiring the firm of Hawley Troxell to conduct an outside investigation of the incident and the UF course.
The firm concluded in its findings report that there was no evidence to support the claim made by the individual who made it.
Here is part of the firm’s conclusion in the findings report (you can read the full report below):
After conducting our investigation, we were unable to substantiate the alleged instance of a student being mistreated in a UF 200 course as described by the Complainant. No students
who participated in the investigation reported that they were ever forced to apologize for the color of their skin. Nor did any student report being personally singled out for their skin color or being subjected to taunts, name-calling, or other degrading behavior from an instructor or other students based on their skin color, beliefs or ideas.
The firm said they interviewed 30 students, some professors, and Boise State University President Marlene Tromp. Additionally, Hawley Troxell said they reviewed hundreds of documents, including course syllabi.
Hawley Troxell said they interviewed the “Complainant,” and the individual did not have the video they described of the student being degraded.
Tromp wrote a letter to her colleagues after the report was released and said in part (full statement below),
The investigation, which reached out to thousands of students and included dozens of direct in-depth interviews and a review of hundreds of documents, is now complete, and the outside firm has issued its final report to me. The firm concluded that there were no violations of university policies nor was there evidence of attempts to indoctrinate our students.
The issue of higher education funding and what can be taught in Idaho’s public universities was a major topic of debate and discussion during the 2021 Idaho legislative session. The issue was brought to the forefront by the Idaho Freedom Foundation.
The Idaho legislature passed House Bill 377, an anti-critical race theory bill signed into law by Governor Brad Little (R) this year.
The IFF released a statement about the report, which said in part,
The Idaho Freedom Foundation is hardly surprised to see that Boise State University’s investigation into its controversial University Foundations 200 courses has been fruitless. As we previously pointed out, “The problem is the propagandizing and indoctrinating of students in a false and pernicious ideology, not their humiliation.”
The investigation report provides no answers to important questions like, “What beliefs are being promoted and in which classrooms? How many incidents have occurred prompting administrative concern before action took place?”
Furthermore, Hawley Troxell, the law firm that conducted the investigation, claims it interviewed 30 students, an incredibly small sample size considering UF 200 classes affect more than 1,200 students per semester. The report even gets the date of the “white shaming” incident wrong, putting it in 2017 instead of 2021.
Do you believe students at Idaho’s public universities are indoctrinating students and promoting critical race theory?
Let us know in the comments below.
Note: Below is the full statement from Tromp as well as the full findings report from Hawley Troxell:
Tags: Boise State University, Idaho Freedom Foundation, Marlene Tromp, Wayne Hoffman
4 thoughts on “BSU Says Investigation Showed No Evidence of Student Being “Degraded””
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Just getting this straight:
1.) BSU hires it’s own investigators?
2.) BSU pays an attorney firm to arrive at an “non biased” outcome?
Hmmm, the results must be factual, don’t you think?
When this story originally broke in the Idaho Statesman, I commented on their Facebook page about a young man I know who graduated from BSU recently. He told me that his experiences at BSU as a conservative Christian was difficult to say the least. He’d had one or more instances of instructors threatening to lower his grade if he didn’t go along with the leftist program. He also complained of the general degeneracy of students going there. He was able to talk about the issue. He was talented in sports and was able to get a couple of full ride scholarships to other schools. Out of all of them, he said BSU was the worst.
Correction, it wasn’t the Statesman, it was the Idaho Press Tribune. You can only imagine the blowback on got on their Facebook page.
Your article doesn’t mention that the student appeared before professionals who are used to intimidating witnesses. Yes, they sent out emails but not to all the student body. When you have just 30 students that responded, you have not met the statistical standards. Marlene Tromp met with them. That was too funny.