College settles claim with professor

OLYMPIA — The Evergreen State College will pay $500,000 to settle a claim by a professor at the center of protests that attracted national attention — and campus threats.

The progressive public college in Olympia told faculty and staff in a Friday email that it settled with Bret Weinstein and his wife, Heather Heying.

The Olympian newspaper reports the two resigned effective Friday.

The couple filed a $3.85 million tort claim against the college in July, alleging it failed to protect employees from threats of physical violence and verbal hostility.

The college said it admits no liability but settled in the school’s best interest.

Protests followed after Weinstein criticized an optional event in which organizers asked white students to leave campus for a talk about race. The event was a reversal of the college’s annual “Day of Absence,” in which minorities attend programs off campus.

The campus closed for three days in June due to threats it received.