Academia has given us so much for which not to be grateful — identity politics, race/gender studies and sundry unpleasantries. But it has topped itself now with one even better — the right to be treated as something quite fragile, always endangered and almost too precious to live.

Last December, the Boston Globe informed us that “students at Harvard Law School, joining their counterparts at a pair of other leading universities, have asked that final exams be postponed for students who have been ‘traumatized’ by recent grand jury decisions” in New York and Missouri, explaining “we cannot walk away from our pain.” In England, some female students suggested we move from clapping to hand waving to signal approval, as the sound of applause could be threatening.