Kieran Bhattacharya was slated to graduate from University of Virginia (UVA) Medical School in 2021. But in late 2018, he was suspended. In early 2019, the University Threat Assessment Team went a step further, issuing Mr. Bhattacharya a no-trespass warning.
Mr. Bhattacharya claims the unraveling of his medical training was because of questions he asked at a UVA-hosted panel on microaggressions that took place 1 month before his suspension. His attorneys argue that, after making some admittedly less-than-collegial statements at a forum, the institution branded him as a threat. The school counters that Mr. Bhattacharya had a pattern of concerning, unprofessional behavior. The matter will now be settled in court.
UVA initially attempted to have Mr. Bhattacharya’s suit thrown out. A federal judge did dismiss three of four counts; however, he also ruled the lawsuit could move forward on the grounds that Mr. Bhattacharya’s First Amendment right to free speech was infringed.
Supporters claim that Mr. Bhattacharya was a student in good standing with the university, until he spoke publicly at the panel. They say the discipline he’s faced for those remarks is an egregious breach of free speech. Several experts say his case highlights the use – or rather misuse – of professionalism policies to undermine student freedoms and valuable discourse.
UVA argues that it’s not so simple and that the facts considered by the judge this spring were only part of the story. According to the defense, Mr. Bhattacharya’s side leaves out key details leading up to his suspension. The institution says Mr. Bhattacharya did and said things that provoked medical school officials to question the safety of the campus and his fitness to practice medicine. This news organization attempted to contact Mr. Bhattacharya several times through his attorneys and did not receive a response.
What happened at the microaggression panel
On this, both parties agree: A panel on microaggressions took place on Oct. 25, 2018. Mr. Bhattacharya, then a 2nd-year UVA medical student, was the first volunteer to speak when the floor was opened for questioning.
“Thank you for your presentation,” said Mr. Bhattacharya, according to an audio recording of the event. “I had a few questions, just to clarify your definition of microaggressions.” He then asked his first question: “Is it a requirement, to be a victim of microaggression, that you are a member of a marginalized group?”
The presenter, Beverly Colwell Adams, PhD, associate professor emeritus in the department of psychology and previously the assistant dean of UVA’s College of Arts and Sciences, said it was not. But before she could go on to explain, Mr. Bhattacharya interrupted, speaking quickly. “But in the definition, it just said you had to be a member of a marginalized group, in the definition you used on the last slide. So that’s contradictory.” Dr. Adams responded. “What I had there is kind of the generalized definition,” she said. “In fact, I extend it beyond that.”
Mr. Bhattacharya asked a second question – to which Dr. Adams responded – about defining a marginalized group. Then, during a third question about differentiating between microaggressions and unintentional rude statements, Mr. Bhattacharya sped up again, repeating some of Dr. Adams’ own presentation back to her. He then asked if she had done any other research on microaggression, after calling the evidence she provided “one anecdotal case.” Dr. Adams responded with an example.
Mr. Bhattacharya’s fourth question was then intercepted by a fellow panelist, Sara Rasmussen, MD. She offered an anecdote about her own experience with microaggression, as a person from rural West Virginia. She offered some advice on understanding the impact of your actions and then advised, “You have to learn to uncouple the intent of what you’re saying and the impact it has on the audience.”
Mr. Bhattacharya briefly disagreed with Dr. Rasmussen, and then called the evidence Dr. Adams presented “anecdotal” a second time. At that point, Dr. Rasmussen interrupted him to say that Dr. Adams had offered “a lot of citations from the literature” and then called on another student to ask a question.
In total, Mr. Bhattacharya engaged with the panel for just over 5 minutes. He is now arguing in court that those 5 minutes forever changed his life.