So is UChicago saying that they plan to violate the ADA?
Are students to be protected from any intellectual disagreement with roommates/suite mates? That’s unfortunate.
My personal trainer is a pro-gun Trump supporter. Suffice to say I am neither of those things :-). But we discuss politics and learn from one another, and we also navigate when we agree-to-disagree and when we say “I really don’t want to discuss this topic.” That’s how it’s meant to be. That’s how adults navigate the world. Good god, my spouse and I don’t always vote the same way. That’s ok. It’s a free country.
Of course any student is free to invite or dis-invite people to their own dorm rooms, whether to discuss issues or to play marbles.
If you have a roommate then I don’t think they would appreciate it very much if you tried to tell them what they are allowed to discuss in your shared dorm room. Maybe Sheldon Cooper has this all covered in his “Roommate Agreement” 
If you are talking about dorm common areas, then I don’t think UChicago will allow any student to tell other students what they can and can’t discuss (other than the usual content neutral time/place/manner restrictions, etc.)
Honestly, I don’t think it serves any purpose to debate the obvious. What’s the point here? Any-hoo, going for a run. Ta-ta for now.
@al2simon Isn’t the purpose of an LGBT center to allow for LGBT students to find respite from the constant ideas (intellectual or not) and perspectives at odds with their own so they can feel safe? … Esp this line “as it gives them an opportunity to identify individuals they may safely reach out to in the coming out process, knowing that they will not be turned away or receive any negative reaction”
http://lgbtq.uchicago.edu/page/safe-space
The U CH latest safe space is for undocumented and first generation students - there is a clear feeling in certain circles that undocumented immigrants may have ideas and perspectives at odds with others…
so why is U Chicago creating a space where they can get away from even the unconscious negativity
"We wanted to create a space that offered enhanced opportunities for engagement, dialogue and action as the University works to create a sense of belonging for the entire community. It’s not enough to have a larger number of students here from underrepresented groups. How do we create an environment where they can feel they are full participants? There are ways to be deliberate about including folks, and there are ways—sometimes intentional but often not—where we exclude unknowingly, unconsciously.
https://news.uchicago.edu/article/2015/11/09/qa-karlene-burrell-mcrae-supporting-students-underrepresented-backgrounds
Couple of issues with that.
1: Who gets to define the word intellectual? Is it the sole domain of the President and Higher Admins at UChicago? Betting students and especially faculty have an issue with that....especially considering it's the faculty who built up and maintain university reputations in the intellectual domain.....not admins/President unless he/she was a notable faculty member whose research/publications/teaching added to that area.
2: Some would argue that it's not only impossible, but also morally/ethically dubious to ask folks from marginalized groups to separate their own experiences of marginalization. Especially considering it's never asked of those who fit norms of the dominant majority in the US and those who fit that milieu)....especially considering it's not necessary by virtue of them being dominant norms in most areas of US life.
The example of LGBT centers is timely considering it wasn’t very long ago that open blatant homophobic harassment and violence was not only tolerated, but even encouraged and perpetuated by those in law enforcement*/authority.
And even after a marked change in attitudes, hostility is still everpresent in large portions of our society ranging from street harassment to government officials refusing to do their jobs because doing so supposedly violates their “religious rights” while forgetting that when working as a public official in the act of directly serving the public…refusing to perform their stipulated duties on grounds it “violates their freedom of religious/non-religious conscience”. And in the process, neglecting to consider the fact that this very act shoves their religious ideals down the throats of the public they are charged with serving and thus, violating their freedom of “religious/non-religious conscience”.
- Several LGBT college classmates and younger alums/friends recounted being harassed and even beaten by law enforcement and K-12 school officials by virtue of their sexual orientation....and some incidents took place AFTER the turn of the millenium.
“The Dean specifically qualified the term safe space with scare quotes and with the adjective intellectual.”
Right. A safe space where your humanity is supported and validated isn’t the same thing as a space where ideas cannot be challenged. That said, I agree that the Dean could have been clearer about embracing supportive social groups. This university, where my parents met and where I grew up, has plenty of work to do to be friendlier to marginalized groups.
I read what Yale says about residential colleges and is there a difference compared to Chicago?
@Marian: I doubt UChi is intending to violate the ADA. If they are, there are plenty of lawyers in Chicago happy to correct them.
" It’s not enough to have a larger number of students here from underrepresented groups. How do we create an environment where they can feel they are full participants? "
My straight son is sitting next to your gay son in a history course at U of Chicago. (This is hypothetical, my son didn’t go there.) The prof lectures. A discussion ensues on the topic. After class is dismissed, kids go off to the library, student center, activities, dorms, cafeterias. Rinse and repeat. Can you explain in which ways your son would be “less of a full participant” than my son?
There’s a difference between intellectual controversy (simply disagreeing with a topic at hand) and trauma-related flashbacks. I read this interesting article earlier today: https://medium.com/@erikadprice/hey-university-of-chicago-i-am-an-academic-1beda06d692e#.s6effzivk
Sure it is. First of all, not every professor shows movies. Second of all, not every professor has every single day of the curriculum planned out on Day One. (Good ones often do, but things sometimes change). And second of all, I’ve never seen Lone Survivor, so I have no idea whether it’s graphically violent or not.
Why?
I was talking about trigger warnings in general. Trigger warnings were originally so named because they referred to “triggers” for post-traumatic stress disorder, which was primarily researched in veterans returning from war and survivors of rape and sexual assault. For example, a loud “pop” might be a trigger for a veteran injured or involved in a conflict that involved explosions.
Bravo! Opinion page of todays WSJ has an article “Free Speech is the Basis of a True Education” by Robert J. Zimmer who is the president of U Chicago. The WSJ also has their own editorial in Review & Outlook entitled “The Chicago School of Free Speech”. I wish more schools would take this position. LOVE IT!
However, there’s a difference between having one’s ideas challenged and giving a platform which conveys far greater legitimacy than warranted to everyone…including those peddling theories which have long since been discredited such as Draptomania, Creationism/Intelligent Design, denialists of historical genocides such as David Irving, etc.
Universities need to be mindful that inviting a speaker to speak at a university…especially an elite one like UChicago confers a greater level of legitimacy on whoever is invited…even if the ideas/tone are such that conferring such legitimacy may not be in the best interests of the university or in fostering greater intellectual discourse.
There’s a gulf of difference between inviting intellectual diversity and rehashing long-discredited theories which have been consigned to the dustbin of history…and deservedly so.
@Pizzagirl The woman in the article you took the quote from was talking about why they had to have a physical building called the Center for Identity and Inclusion -because they have found at U Chicago its not enough to have them sit next to each other in class an discuss … long story short of why is numbers sometimes if you are a minority you are afraid to speak up and fully participate for reasons @cobrat so eloquently explained!
@Cobrat Very well said in post #347. thank you!
@stargirl3: There is a difference between those things. It is a difference that appears to bear no relation to the demands of various activists. As such, it is a red herring.
al2simon: After reading many of your posts, over several years, I have no doubt that you, like many posters here,are a whole lot smarter than I am. That is a given.
However, I do not understand the comparison of filming in a college courtyard, against stated Yale rules, by an invited guest of the Master and his wife, and then distributing it – to distributing to the public a letter Chicago sent to incoming first years.
Did Chicago tell the students not to share the letter? Was it against Chicago’s stated policy?
Has anyone been damaged by Chicago sharing the letter?
As far as I can tell, Lukianoff travels around judging colleges. He makes money off films, books, etc. I am not even commenting as to whether I agree or disagree with his politics and agenda. I am saying he exploited a student for self promotion. That is what I find so offensive. I think we (old folks/farts) are supposed to educate and protect the young as best we can, not ridicule them, and definitely not put them in harm’s way. That is just my opinion, one borrowed from folks I’ve been hanging out with in academic circles for a few decades.
Maybe I’m so witless, that jokes and sarcasm are the only appropriate responses to my arguments. However, I am trying to follow the conversation.
I am not at all concerned about the Chicago letter. Exacademic’s posts early in this thread made perfect sense to me.
@Pizzagirl I think having one’s own room at a school that charges $70K per year is actually not a bad idea. Talking within a residence hall about stuff is great (or talking to a personal trainer at the gym…), but my son got assigned a triple! Am not sure when he will have any alone time to just chill and reflect in a “safe” space! However, I am the only one complaining. He, unlike many, takes the good with the bad in stride.
And, on the positive side, he has a diverse group in his room, so, if he probes, which he probably won’t, he could learn something from his roomies.
@runswimyoga By the way, most kids I know don’t dwell on race or gays (or political persuasion). My kids have grown up in a very diverse world all around the USA, and they seem to have evolved beyond focusing on (or even noticing) these differences. One of the most popular and talented students in my second son’s HS class is both black and gay - in South Carolina!! He is starting at Harvard this year. The Pres of my other son’s HS senior class in the DC area was also black and is one of my son’s best friends. That kid is becoming a minister. So many on CC presume everyone in the southeast is a bigot! Sounds like NJ could possibly be worse?
^^^ I appreciate this author’s acknowledgment that we’re talking about mental illness here, not about trauma. Plenty of people who haven’t gone through trauma have disabling irrational fears; lots of trauma survivors don’t. I’m using the term irrational in the clinical sense, not the pejorative sense. There is no experiential difference between a panic attack spurred by a traumatic memory and one spurred by a phobia, like snakes.
I’m not on the same page with all of her conclusions, though. I think professors have a lot to worry about without keeping track of which readings mention vomiting or abandonment or spiders or alcohol. I say this as someone who recovered from a crippling, life-threatening anxiety disorder that was unrelated to trauma. It’s my job to handle my recovery and face college when I’m ready. If you’re going to faint when you see a picture of an injection in biology class, I think that’s not the university’s or professor’s problem to anticipate and prevent.
And from the great McKenzie Wark: