Dr. Eric Ruiz Bybee is an Assistant Professor of Teacher Education in the David O. McKay School of Education at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

In a message to the conservative, student-run publication, The Cougar Chronicle, Dr. Bybee threatened to report writers of the site and others for academic misconduct. The incident stemmed from a report by the paper in which a document from Dr. Jane Lopez’s course was published.

Her assignment—titled, “Revealing Whiteness Activity,”—asked students to identify and photograph three aspects of “whiteness” represented at BYU. The document further cited the author of “White Fragility”, Robin DeAngelo, to define “whiteness” as “specific dimensions of racism that serve to elevate white people over people of color.”

To learn more about Dr. Lopez, please visit her profile on the Professor Watchlist.

Several days after the story was posted, the site was inundated with comments accusing the author of posting private intellectual property.

Shortly after, Dr. Eric Bybee privately messaged the Chronicle and demanded the post be taken down. He likewise accused the authors of stealing Dr. Lopez’s intellectual property and engaging in “targeted harassment” before assuring that he is committed to pursuing “appropriate consequences” against those responsible.

He threatened to report several conservative students and activists on campus—including several who do not even write for the paper—to the university’s Honor Code office administration for disciplinary action (The names of the students have been blurred at their request).

The Honor Code Office is tasked with enforcing the university’s code of conduct. Those found in violation may face academic discipline or—in extreme cases—expulsion from BYU.

Upon review of the Honor Code by the Professor Watchlist Team, there appears to be no rule against the posting of an assignment.

While the office ultimately chose to not investigate, the author of the story eventually edited the sections of the report that included Dr. Lopez’s course due to the nature of the threat. The updated piece can still be found on the Chronicle’s website and a corresponding post on the site’s Instagram page—BYU Conservatives—may be viewed below.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by BYU Conservatives (@byuconservatives)

Dr. Bybee’s personal Twitter account further showcases his antagonism towards conservatives and white men in addition to his far-left stances.

A series of tweets support critical race theory,

A reminder:

Davis District *cancelled* an anti-bias training in response to Utah’s anti-CRT resolution.

This means that there is a *direct link* between cynical attempts to manufacture outrage over #CRT and the racist abuse that Black students experience in schools. #utpol pic.twitter.com/AZtzrqpQCr

— Eric Ruiz Bybee (@ericbybee) October 26, 2021

Friends I am speaking on a CRT panel tomorrow sponsored by @NAACP_UofUtah, @BetterUtahInst and @acluutah.

Join us!https://t.co/spCtRtIL6m pic.twitter.com/sOIcpRo97J

— Eric Ruiz Bybee (@ericbybee) June 16, 2021

One tweet compares Joe Rogan to the men convicted of killing Ahmaud Arbery in a hate crime,

I am pretty tired of hearing about Joe Rogan at this point, but it feels worth pointing out that the federal hate crime case against Ahmaud Arbery’s murderers hinges in part on their use of the same slurs that Rogan used on his show.

Let that sink in for a moment. https://t.co/OweQXalcAl pic.twitter.com/JyZVOIZwr0

— Eric Ruiz Bybee (@ericbybee) February 8, 2022

In a thread, Dr. Bybee accuses white men of representing “the face of modern domestic terrorism.”

Say it with me again.

The face of modern domestic terrorism is not brown or black. It is white. /1https://t.co/YWWITBQyxf pic.twitter.com/ZMM6XPADqp

— Eric Ruiz Bybee (@ericbybee) October 9, 2020

Yet another tweet insinuates that Kyle Rittenhouse received preferable treatment from the justice system because he is white,

I can’t think of two cases that better illustrates the white supremacy of our criminal justice system.

It’s a sickness and and rot at the heart of our society. https://t.co/RGeWGsIYy4

— Eric Ruiz Bybee (@ericbybee) November 23, 2020

Dr. Bybee’s work has led him to author papers on Latinx Education, Racial Identity, Social Justice Education, and even one paper titled “White Supremacy, Neo/Colonial Education and the Struggle for Precious Knowledge.”

The Professor Watchlist team reached out to Dr. Bybee for comment but has not received a reply by the time of publication.

Update

After publication, Dr. Bybee proceeded to publish 61-tweets defending teaching “whiteness” to his students and describing the Professor Watchlist as “something that sounds like it could have come out of Vladimir Putin’s Russia.” The full thread may be viewed below.

So, last Thursday a right-wing website published a story about me and another @BYU colleague.

Since then I have received many harassing emails/voicemails.

I have decided to make public those emails/voicemails in this thread. 🧵 /1

— Eric Ruiz Bybee (@ericbybee) March 21, 2022

Students and Parents may contact the David O. McKay School of Education of BYU at (801) 422-3426 or at eac.frontdesk@byu.edu

Updated – March 24th, 2022