(HeatStreet) Evergreen State College students have berated a professor and called for his resignation after he objected to an event where white students were asked to leave the campus for a day.

Bret Weinstein, a biology professor at the university, sent out an email criticizing the purpose of this year’s “Day Of Absence” event where, unlike in the past, white students and faculty members were asked to leave campus to give space to people of color.

“There is a huge difference between a group or coalition deciding to voluntarily absent themselves from a shared space in order to highlight their vital and under appreciated roles … and a group or coalition encouraging another group to go away,” Weinstein wrote in the email.

“I would encourage others to put phenotype aside and reject this new formulation … On a college campus, one’s right to speak—or to be—must never be based on skin color.”

Weinstein’s email prompted a mob of students to confront the professor in person and accuse him of racism, call for his resignation or be fired.

A video of the incident, recorded by one of the student protesters was posted on social media, showing Weinstein trying to discuss the issues with the student—only to be shouted down and cursed at him, all while demanding resignation.

“There’s a difference between debate and dialectic,” the professor told students.

“Debate means you are trying to win, dialectic means you are using disagreement to discover what is true. I am not interested in debate. I am only interested in dialectic, which does mean I listen to you, and you listen to me.”

A student shouted at Weinstein: “We don’t care what terms you want to speak on. This is not about you. We are not speaking on terms—on terms of white privilege. This is not a discussion. You have lost that one.”

Another student accused the professor of making racist comments, demanding he apologize, to which Weinstein replied: “I did not.”

The confrontation continued and one Evergreen student asked the biology professor whether he believes that “black students in sciences are targeted.”

“I do not believe that anybody on our faculty, with intent, specially targets students of color,” he replied—sparking shrieking outrage from the student protesters.

The professor tried to reason with the students, claiming discussion can bring positive change. “Listen to me … Yes, I know, history could pivot in the direction of the values that you are standing here for,” prompting a student to interrupt him, saying “Yeah, resign.”

“I’m not resigning,” the professor fired back.

The students then took their protest away from Weinstein and started a walk through the campus chanting “Hey hey! Ho ho! Bret Weinstein has got to go!”

There are also reports that students at Evergreen have barricaded themselves.

Some students are also circulating a statement on the incident, accusing professor Weinstein of “racism” and “anti-blackness:

We come here as students against campus racism and against anti-blackness on campus, and we would like to reach out to students of color in the humanities as well as the sciences that we are here to support, and we want to dismantle anti-blackness campus-wide. We want to give some sense of solidarity and provide safety in and outside of classes.