By Chris Acree–
Most colleges and universities welcome their incoming freshmen with a little pat on the head, a few handcarts to help them move all their stuff into the dorm, and the bill for the first few droplets of what will soon become a monsoon of crippling student loan debt. The University of Chicago however, greeted their arriving saps—I mean, freshmen—with a letter telling them to stop being such little babies.
“We do not support so-called ‘trigger warnings’” the letter stated. “We do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual ‘safe spaces’ where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own.”
The letter itself has not only succeeded in getting its point across, but also in getting the University of Chicago more press than it would ever receive on a normal basis.
The letter rails against every buzzword that has irritated conservatives and libertarians alike, about colleges and universities for the last couple of years, adding to the small mountain of stuff about postsecondary education that was teeing them off already. These critics of ‘safe spaces’ and ‘trigger warnings’ point to several liberal arts schools across the country like Wesleyan and Oberlin – who both cancelled speakers due to protests and made administrative efforts to curb what they call ‘offensive speech,’ and see nothing but political correctness run amok.
While there are certain instances where universities have gone overboard in trying to make sure everyone doesn’t get their feelings hurt, most efforts to construct safe spaces and enforce some sort of political correctness are simply trying to get people to stop being insensitive – such as using racial or homophobic slurs, or using deliberately discriminatory speech.
While everyone has a constitutional right to be insensitive (note the current presidential race), there’s no real reason for it in a university environment. Even hard facts that might not cast a certain group of people in a positive light can be presented in an educated way, without casting general aspersions on an entire race or religion.
As most of our mothers have always said, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”
Not to mention that ‘trigger warnings’ are basically unnecessary – going to college is already a shock enough at is. Where was the ‘trigger warning’ for the first time you stepped into a dorm shower that’s been clogged up with heaven-knows-what?
Lord knows I needed a ‘trigger warning’ this past semester when one of my instructors started talking about proper methods for clitoral stimulation. I think I have PTSD after that particular class period.
That’s why at the end of the day I don’t understand what the big deal with ‘trigger warnings’ and ‘safe spaces’ really is. People who have a problem with stuff like that lack a fundamental understanding of what it’s like to be an average college student.
Quick question – your professor says something highly inflammatory and controversial. What do you do? It seems to me like there’s only three reasonable options.
- Curl into the fetal position and rock back and forth because you’re an oversensitive, entitled millennial completely unfit for the real world.
- Jump out of your desk and forcefully challenge the professor on all points, using quotes from various authors and studies to refute every word.
- Shut up and go back to playing on your cell phone because this is a required course for your major and everybody knows professors fail students who disagree with them.
Did you pick option 3? Of course you did.
‘Trigger warnings’ are okay as long as they are just that. If you are warned that certain subjects will be discussed, and then those subjects are summarily discussed, what’s the big deal?
I wonder if the University of Chicago wouldn’t mind their administration posing for halloween pictures with ponchos, sombreros and tiny mustaches like some other schools we know. We all deserved a ‘trigger warning’ for that one.
