'via Blog this'
College is the place where young people are
supposed to be introduced to ideas and concepts that are not theirs, dangerous,
daring or threatening as they may be, and to inspect them, investigate them,
interrogate them, to learn from them. College is the place where young people
are supposed to think critically and creatively about the world they live in.
Bravo to the University of Chicago for refusing to nurse-maid their students
from ideas and issues. Treating young adults like children will not make them
good citizens prepared for the adulthood.
The problem is less the idealized notion of "safe
places", those sectors of the university where one may discuss in clarity
and detail issues, personal and political and otherwise intellectual than it is
a method of shutting down debate on campus. Student newspapers have gotten into problems with students, faculty and
administrations all over the country for publishing views that are contrary to
whatever the local political thinking might be.
At UCSD, where I graduated in
1981, the campus humor magazine had their funding suspended because they made
fun of "safety zones" and "triggers" and such; needless to
say the ACLU is suing the university for suppression of free speech. What is
happening on campuses in terms of a growing intolerance of views that are
contrary or contrary to whatever the conventional wisdom may be is coming from
the academic Left , an over theorized portion of the progressive community that
has become so invested in identity politics that they've tossed out the great
tradition of self criticism and debate, of challenging their theorems against
actual material circumstances on the ground and have lost sight , as well, that
the point was bringing the hurt, the oppressed, the marginalized, the maligned,
the exploited, the forgotten, into the mainstream, as participants in the
larger discussions , exchanges and debates that provides us with greater
comprehension of life as it occurs outside the Academy.
I understand the
need for accommodation for those with needs traditional methods cannot address,
but the trend has been to limit discussion on issues, not expand them. There
comes a time when one, special issues and triggers or not, will have to face an unfiltered presentation of
views that challenge them and may well cause them discomfort. As much as I
expect decorum and civility in a debate, one will be expected to shore up their
resources and have responses as strong stated and vetted as anything an
aggressive counter view can offer. What concerns me is that there is a trend to
shut down things that groups of students find objectionable on their campus and
in their classes, and this is not a good thing.