Stanford student torches 'diversity' dean after judge speech chaos
Stanford student Josiah Joner joins "The Story" to react to a Trump-appointed judge being branded racist and forced out of an invited speaking engagement.
A Stanford student told Fox News that administrators should take action after he was mortified by the behavior of students and the school's diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) dean, whose objections led a Trump-appointed federal judge to ditch his speaking engagement.
Stanford DEI Associate Dean Tirien Steinbach joined students by claiming that Judge Kyle Duncan, based out of the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans, was causing "harm" by his rulings.
Students could be heard yelling that Duncan's "racism is showing," and the jurist ultimately was ushered out by federal marshals before being able to offer his remarks.
"I look out, and I say I'm glad this is going on here," Steinbach was heard saying on video while claiming that the Stanford administration still believes in free speech.
Duncan had been invited by the Stanford branch of the Federalist Society, which former President Donald Trump conferred with throughout his tenure in nominating judges to the federal bench.
Josiah Joner, a student who had joined others in writing up his objection to the chaotic scene for the Stanford Review, told "The Story" that it was "emblematic of what's going on throughout the country."
"One of the biggest issues of this is that this wasn't just coming from students. We expect conservative and liberal students to do, you know, crazy stuff that's going to go against policies."
"There need to be administrators and officials of the university who are there to be able to reaffirm the commitment to free speech and let these people speak and be able to share their opinions — because that's the principle that not only this country was built on, but … Stanford's policies," Joner said.
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A general view of the buildings of the Main Quadrangle and Hoover Tower on the campus of Stanford University. (David Madison / Getty Images / File)
He cited a written apology to Duncan from Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne and Law School Dean Jenny Martinez, adding that other "concrete steps" must be taken to ensure freedom of speech and fair treatment of invited speakers.
Joner said Steinbach acted in a way "unbefitting" of a law school administrator — and should either pledge to commit to changing her behavior or Tessier-Lavigne and others in leadership should take action to prevent incidents overall.
Such scenes, he said, do "not have a place here at Stanford," adding that action should also be taken to advise students their behavior was unacceptable.
"These are supposed to be these future lawyers and Supreme Court justices, and they're not standing up to those principles," he said.
In response to his premature departure, Duncan told the Washington Free Beacon that he feels bad for the students rather than himself.
"Don’t feel sorry for me," he told the outlet. "I’m a life-tenured federal judge. What outrages me is that these kids are being treated like dog---- by fellow students and administrators."
Fox News Digital's Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.