University of Chicago Tells Incoming Students: Don't Expect Safe Spaces or Trigger Warnings

[NuclearDem]

237. Wow, that's a lot of strawmen for one toon.

Are you from a dominant social group saying "politically incorrect" things?

Politically incorrect is not the same thing as bigoted. I'd love to know how men are somehow the "dominant social group" since women outnumber them on campus and in the country at large.

Are you from a minority group protesting something said by the previous group?

The problem isn't protesting or debating. It's the fact that "protesting" happens to be taking the form of violating freedom of the press, assaulting speakers on stage, and denying other people their rights to speech.

Are you an invited speaker to whom we are paying a hefty fee, and also a war criminal/online harasser/extreme bigot/anti-science kook?

Given how expansive these terms have become, just about everyone who seems to not march in lockstep with a certain ideology can be fit into these categories.

Want to peacefully protest your university granting legitimacy to this person?

Universities don't "grant legitimacy" or endorse speakers they allow to use their facilities. Universities are supposed to be open marketplaces of ideas, and most believe that allowing viewpoints at odds with their students is not only in keeping with that spirit, but healthy for their emotional and intellectual development. People you disagree with are going to voice their opinions somewhere, so it might as well be in a place where you and others can have a discussion on the merits of their arguments; otherwise, you're going to end up woefully unprepared for when you encounter these people after college.

And no, walking up on stage and assaulting Milo Yiannopoulos is not considered peaceful protest.

We are VERY, VERY concerned about "trigger warnings." (Shout out to right-wing donors!)

What the fuck do right-wing donors have to do with this? This is just a ridiculous attempt at a boogeyman.

But, no need to mention the problem of campus sexual assault.

Universities don't ignore sexual assault. What people are at odds with is the flawed "1 in 5" statistic based on a self-reporting survey covering only one year of students and including expanded definitions, rather than the more comprehensive long-term study which found it to be less than 1% and in fact safer than the surrounding communities. This is not saying that rape and assault on campus don't exist, as this strawman thinks.

Are you an LGBT student looking for a place where you don't have to worry about being harassed?

Harassment is against the law, and against nearly all university student codes of conduct. If a student is being harassed based on their race, sexual orientation, gender, or ethnicity, they can report it to university officials who will discipline the party responsible, or contact the police and have a restraining order filed.

"Safe spaces" exist to shut out differing opinions, which in the world of identity politics that inextricably links ideas with identity, gets called harassment.