Yesterday a group of students went to Emory’s president demanding that he take action against whoever ‘chalked’ some pro-Trump slogans on some sidewalks on campus. Simply seeing ‘Trump 2016’ allegedly caused “pain” and “fear”, creating an unsafe space for some of these students.
I’m a #NeverTrump guy. I think that he’s a horse’s ass and unfit for public office. But come on. Seeing the words ‘Trump 2016’ causes fear and pain? You must be kidding. Trump actually won the Georgia Republican primary. If you walk a block off campus you’ll see some pro-Trump stuff. Are these kids so fragile that they can’t handle this? Do they honestly feel that what is clearly political speech, not directed at any particular person or group, should be banned at Emory?
Well, to a great extent the president agreed. This story has gotten some play nationally, and makes Emory into a laughingstock.
Here’s a link:
http://emorywheel.com/emory-students-express-discontent-with-administrative-response-to-trump-chalkings/
– Emory parent
Right.
For the first time in my life, I’m embarrassed I went to this school.
There’s not much to say other than hopefully these kids use the backlash to learn what the real world is like.
And, at some point, we’ll recognize that this is a small minority of the student body and not at all indicative of a typical student (although, I know some of these protesters by name and they are very smart kids. I’m surprised they would do this).
Well, this is the softness we see at most top private schools. As a person who considers themselves quite liberal, this was disappointing to say the least. I think Emory (as do most elite privates) coddled us enough academically and in other ways (amenities/living arrangements have gotten ridiculous at many of the “new Ivies”). Now it must protect students from ideas or expressions of support of people who a majority doesn’t like. No thanks, I think I am capable of protecting myself from it using my own intelligence and the stuff I learned in order to a) educate and engage in civil discourse with others or b) just not vote for someone I don’t like/organize politically against the actual candidate and not their supporters/expressions of support for them. I don’t need the university administration to step in and denounce or endorse someone not not affiliated with the university.
Such a thing would not make me feel “safer” (honestly, in Georgia, with regards to safety, I think concealed-carry on campuses is much more of a threat than a real or fake Trump supporter whose method is not through physical violence but is through spoken or written word as basically anyone with a gun is a potential danger whether I perceive them as on our side or not. I want to see protests against this which seems to be supported by a decent chunk of Ga legislators). This is the US. We are allowed to oppose ideas (or have radical ones) without censoring them (bad ideas spoken out in the open can often defeat themselves if people use their brains to think about them instead of reacting emotionally as a first step). One could argue that such censorship is why all the Trump support is a “surprise”. It really isn’t to me. We got used to pretending that people didn’t possess such ideas or were not gullible enough to buy in.
This is simply disgusting. The problem is ultimately not with the kids. Babies will cry if you let them. The problem is the adults, starting with the president. They should be ashamed of themselves.
And like it or not, he’s going to be the Republican representative of a two-party race for Presidency. His name is going to pop up a lot.
If it had said #feelthebern instead of #trump, nobody would be throwing a temper tantrum.
By the way, the little wanna-be red guards better watch out, if they ever look for jobs outside academia, this kind of thing will not be easily forgotten.
@krzysmis – Whrn my son first called me about this, one of his first comments was that his Emory degree is being devalued by these knuckleheads. He’s a hard-working kid, focused on his studies, and wrote a (signed) email to the president berating him for indulging these perpetually aggrieved ‘victims’. My son doesn’t feel that it’s fair that he’s tarred with the same feathers as this very small group of kids.
@AsleepAtTheWheel: I heard another theory/ulterior motive behind the protests. One student said that protestors may have been concerned about the reaction of prospective students to it (apparently some folks reportedly stormed off of a tour or started crying- so protestors may partially be doing damage control/trying to demonstrate that Emory students in general aren’t for it. Unfortunately, this is not a good way of doing it, not only from a press point of view, but also from a strategic point of view. Also, honestly as a school traditionally known for politic apathy and that being used as a tool to portray students negatively, any non-hate speech expression should be refreshing…but I guess it can’t be the “wrong” political cause). However, honestly, I would not want to matriculate those (if they applied already, I would like to know what other elite private that is a reasonable admission target will have no Trump supporters or would be devoid of those with “interesting” ideas. Emory is likely the most liberal among the 4 top private research U’s in the south…I’m trying to figure out if they are planning on going to UGA, UNC, Tech, UVa, Vanderbilt, or Tulane to avoid this? Also is it too late to find out who these applicants are to ensure a denial or waitlist) who react in such fashions to this sort of thing. It just makes it harder for those who actually want to educate students, to do so properly.
@AsleepAtTheWheel: Good for your Son. My kid got into an argument with the little red guards today while doing a mock protest against chalk.
I grew up in a communist country so this vibe is nothing new to me and I am just livid that my kids (one junior, one incoming freshman) have to face this garbage too. I’m really bothered by the cowardly response of the president and believe he is unfit to lead a liberal! arts institution.
If any other parents are interested, we should form a concerned emory parents group to pressure Emory into better behavior. They should take what happened at U of Missouri to heart.
@bernie12 going to Tech isn’t going to avoid “chalk” - Emory has shuttles back and forth several times a day to Tech and used to be Emory band students marched in Tech’s band - they sort of have a sibling relationship - the LAC and it’s Engineering school…today’s rankings they have reversed that to the Engineering school and it’s LAC.
@krzysmis : Missouri is not a comparable case study to Emory. They and schools like it actually have issues that are much more obvious and hardly can be called “trumped up”(pun intended). Emory’s case is sensationalist for sure. Also, not analogous because Wagner is on his way out.
@threeofthree : You missed the point. I’m naming schools perceived to be less liberal than Emory basically asking:“If they are no longer interested in Emory because this, then what other competitive school is there that is reasonably accessible admissions wise and has significantly less students with opinions or ideas offensive to those with a liberal persuasion? Certainly not these” . Tech and Emory are not the same politically…much like Harvard and MIT are not (that’s actually the closest thing I can think of to the Emory/Tech relationship) which is what one would expect when you compare a school with a STEM core to one with a liberal arts core.
@bernie12 The issue is not what happened, but what the consequences of the thuggery were: 25% drop in enrollment.
What obvious issues do they have?
@krzysmis : You can read about the make-up of that school yourself and and the fallout of that event that was kind of concerning and revealing on your own. Also, much like I do not loosely throw around the term “hate speech”, I do not throw around the term “thuggery” either. I will pass on explaining clear differences in the atmosphere at Emory and that Missouri and how that makes a difference in viability of such reactions.
@aluminum_boat From what I’ve heard from people on campus, “Feel the Bern” was written but was almost immediately removed. They’re bothered by the fact that “Build the Wall” and “Trump 2016” were not responded to with the same level of fervor.
@bernie12 Demanding the president explain his " white privilege" is pure bigotry. As is the demand to introduce mini reeducation camps and hiring quotas, and suppression of free speech. All of that under the threat of disruption to campus operations, refusal of players to play and all that jazz. Yes, that’s pure thuggery. Fortunately, the new leadership told the crybullies to go hang, but the damage has been done.
I demand that Emory defends the principles of liberal education and offer no safe spaces to anybody. Otherwise, there will be consequences.
The Atlantic Monthly just today published a piece about Emory’s handling of the anti-Trump protestors:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/03/a-letter-to-emory-please-stop-fueling-trumpism/475356/
The author argues that these types of protests helps Trump. I tend to agree.
It’s also interesting to see that most Emory students on Yik Yak are opposed to the protestors, according to the article.
I wonder how many protestors have registered to vote and/or have voted in this year’s presidential primaries.
The problem with the attitudes like the one in theatlantic is that it still swims in the cesspool of identity narcissism. In other words, the commitment to (classical ) liberal values is only tactical. The basic values of the " victims" are not questioned. After all, the little red guards are as well intentioned as the originals were.
Again, when young, people can be stupid with no limits, and this can be forgiven. However, the point of liberal arts education should be to inculcate the basic values of citizenship and not indulge the crybabies in their victimhood.
We should also keep in mind that there could be more to this story than we’re aware of.
After thinking about it more, it’s simply too ridiculous for me to believe this is everything that happened.
I rarely ever post on here, since I’m a junior but I’m going to bring light to this situation because the way the media has distorted this event is comical. First, there has been no “emergency counseling” offered and none that has been needed. That is a load of BS. Second, the issue goes way beyond the chalk markings; it’s about the way in which students of color have been treated at this university. No one had a problem with the fact that it said “Trump”. It was weird though that most had thought it was strange that the markings were on every single step (around 58 steps on each staircase) to the DUC, which leads to Centro Latino and EBSU. Usually, markings are in a more visible area of campus like Asbury Circle. Also, just to be clear, it wasn’t like it was just a few markings on campus stating Trump. It was legit everywhere (outside of a sophomore dorm, Asbury Circle, outside of White Hall and Cox. We got the message. The main comment that affected people was “Build A Wall” as there are some undocumented students who attend Emory and found that somewhat offensive. It’s not about freedom of speech because I’m pretty sure people have acknowledged that; it’s the manner in which it was carried out. Lastly, unless you’ve actually read statements released by the Latinx or Black community, then you don’t know the full story as to why it’s affecting. Take the time listen to the communities affected instead of incessantly touting “freedom of speech”.
@FlyEagle17 You do raise an issue that the way the chalkings amounted to targeted vandalism in the same way that graffiti - though a form of expression - can be thought of as vandalism if it’s done in an excessive way and in inappropriate places. Free speech rights don’t go so far as to allow me to write graffiti on someone else’s private property.
I also get that it’s been done in a way that appears to be taunting toward certain communities on campus.
I would also agree that those who did this are cowards in that it was done anonymously in the dark of night when the same expressive activity could have been carried out in the open.
Thank you for clarifying. News reports made it appear that one or two Trump slogans had been chalked on sidewalks located on the Emory campus. That’s not what appeared to have happened.
In light of the above, I suspect the administration would have taken the Trump graffiti seriously even without the formality and confrontation of a protest.