Administrators of the State University of New York at Geneseo reinstated a student who they suspended from his education program for posting an Instagram video in which he stated, "a man is a man and a woman is a woman."
On Wednesday, Owen Stevens confirmed to The College Fix that his university has allowed him to stay and finish his studies in their campus.
"Universities should be a marketplace of ideas, not an assembly line for one type of thought. Instead of policing speech on social media platforms, they should be engaging in educating future world leaders," he told the outlet.
Also posting on his Instagram account with an attachment of the news of his reinstatement, he wrote, "I win."
Back in February, Stevens received an email from the college's dean informing him of his suspension due to a November video post in which he stated his public stance on gender views.
"You continue to maintain, 'I do not recognize the gender that they claim to be if they are not biologically that gender,'" the Dean said in a letter to Stevens. "This public position is in conflict with the [state's] Dignity for All Students Act requiring teachers to maintain a classroom environment protecting the mental and emotional well-being of all students."
The "mental and emotional well-being of all students," according to the school's philosophy, will help foster a diverse campus community, hence the constraints on public teachers in their conservative views.
This week, the Daily Wire has obtained copies of the reinstatement documents which states that "the university has vastly eased up on (their) requirements."
Stevens, however, is still required to abide to the regulations presented in the "Guidance to School Districts for Creating a Safe and Support School Environment for Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students" documents. He also has to "self-monitor" his social media posts to "ensure that he presents himself in a professional manner," said College Fix's report.
Daily Wire added that the college has initially planned to make Stevens undergo a "re-education" training.
"SUNY Geneseo claimed that Stevens would remain suspended from participating in in-school field experiences and courses that have field experiences until he completes a "remediation plan,"' reports DW.
The said "remediation plan" includes the removal of Steven's controversial Instagram video and other related posts, lessen his online presence, and attend a "school-sanctioned training."
"Although this situation was mended, they still have not changed their destructive policies," Stevens commented. "We [Stevens and his legal team] will be taking every action necessary to get these policies changed legally."
Celebrating his reinstatement in public education as a milestone, Stevens is still determined to go against the current of libertarian policies which have gutted schools and states.
"This is a huge victory for us ... but we need to push back so that destructive policies leave our universities," said Stevens. "We are still planning legal action ... The much larger issue is that the university will almost always back down in the face of negative media attention. Going the legal route will provide legal precedent in order to challenge their policies in court."
