It seems all we hear from Ivy League institutions these days is the whining and complaining of the privileged. Whether it’s wanting more black professors or changing the name of a building, special snowflakes on college campuses keep finding ways to avoid work and others’ free speech and remain coddled.
But there are many, perhaps even a silent majority, that believe safe spaces, trigger warnings and labeling microaggressions keep students from growing up. Enter Rachel Huebner, a staff writer for Harvard’s student newspaper. In an article critical of campus “sensitivity,” Huebner explains that movements purporting to protect students have gone too far.
“In a class I attended earlier this semester, a large portion of the first meeting was devoted to compiling a list of rules for class discussion,” Huebner wrote. “A student contended that as a woman, she would be unable to sit across from a student who declared that he was strongly against abortion, and the other students in the seminar vigorously defended this declaration. The professor remained silent.”
“In a recent conversation with peers, I posed a question about a verse from the Bible. A Harvard employee in the room immediately interjected, informing me that we were in a safe space and I was thus not permitted to discuss the controversial biblical passage,” she added. “And these are just stories from the past three months.”
Harvard is not alone in this overindulgence of student sensitivities, Huebner wrote. At Bowdoin College, students hosted a tequila-themed birthday party that included mini-sombreros. The school’s administration deemed it “cultural appropriation” and investigated the students involved. The school, in its fervor, ignored the fact that the invitations were sent by a student of Colombian descent, that on the same night an annual administration-approved “Cold War party” took place where guests wore fur hats and coats, that weeks earlier a school-hosted event included a photo booth with prop mustaches and sombreros and that, just a week earlier, the dining hall hosted a Mexican night.
“Nonetheless, the tequila party was the only one deemed cultural appropriation,” Huebner wrote.
The Harvard sophomore, who is majoring in psychology, wrote of the irony surrounding “safe spaces.” Historically, the term was used as part of the early women’s movement as a way for women to “speak and act freely,” but on today’s college campuses, the term means just the opposite.
“The assaults on free expression have dire consequences. The rise of the microaggression movement has been reported to be detrimental to mental health on campus. Students’ emotional distress is increasing as educators presume that fragile undergraduates need to be protected from any form of dissent,” Huebner wrote. “Administrators must recognize that the current restrictions are incompatible with the very premise and goal of an education.”
Ashe Schow is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
