A student who was suspended by the University of Virginia for daring to ask questions during a presentation about ‘microaggressions’ has taken the institution to court, with his story sparking disbelief and anger on social media.
The bizarre saga begins in October 2018, when Kieran Bhattacharya, a student at the University of Virginia (UVA) School of Medicine, attended a panel discussion on the subject of ‘microaggressions.’ During a Q&A session, Bhattacharya asked the presenter, an assistant dean at the university, to clarify what constitutes a mini form of aggression.
According to an audio recording of the exchange, the student thanked the dean for her presentation before launching into his query.
“Is it a requirement, to be a victim of microaggression, that you are a member of a marginalized group?" he asked.
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When Bhattacharya repeatedly sought to understand what he had done wrong and what he was accused of, administrators doubled down. At a hearing, he was accused of being “extremely defensive” and was ordered to reform his “aggressive, threatening behavior.”
The university ultimately decided to suspend him, claiming that he was guilty of “aggressive and inappropriate interactions in multiple situations.”
Two months after the infamous microaggression panel, Bhattacharya was ordered by university police to leave campus.
Since then, Bhattacharya has been seeking to rectify his seemingly unprecedented treatment in the courts. He filed a lawsuit arguing that UVA violated his First Amendment rights by retaliating against him simply for sharing his views on a subject. The university requested that the court dismiss the case, but a district court judge at the end of March ruled that the suit could go forward.
Reason.com’s Robby Soave, who reported the story, described the university’s behavior as “pure Kafka.”
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