NYT Pick JB, PhD NYC 1 day ago First and foremost, despite what some commenters have been trying to claim on the web, this isn't a left/right issue. Plenty of people on all sides prefer to live in an echo chamber of knowledge that becomes impenetrable from the outside.



As an alumnus of UChicago, I applaud them for taking a stand in favor of free discourse. Universities shouldn't become an intellectual echo chamber by teaching students only what they want to learn and never challenging them with uncomfortable topics. And if anything, this is a feature - you'll meet lots of people in life and be exposed to many ideas, some of which might offend you, whether the speaker meant it intentionally or not. By challenging students intellectually, you are giving them the tools to lay their own beliefs on solid foundations and successfully stand for their own views (or even change them when facts necessitate it).



Bear in mind, people are still free to form their own groups and professors are free to conduct their classes as they wish. The University is simply informing students that administratively, they will not sanction the banning of speakers nor micromanage professors on how they should conduct their classes. Flag

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NYT Pick jeoffrey Arlington, MA 1 day ago As a left liberal faculty member I cheer Chicago for making this clear. Trigger warnings are part of a general administrative push to scapegoat faculty and get students on their side as they attempt to consolidate power. Faculty are less and less free to teach what we think we should be teaching, and more and more at the mercy of administrative coopting of the self-righteousness of naive student activists.



Lilian Hellman, who knew a thing or two about how powerful institutions limit free speech, anticipated this dynamic in her play The Children's Hour. Flag

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NYT Pick Lonely Centrist NC 1 day ago I never thought I'd see the day when the most determined enemies of free speech and lively debate would be this country's universities and colleges, and the students attending those institutions would demand “protection” from ideas that might be uncomfortable to them -– that is, would want to be treated as children and not adults.



In doing the right thing, Chicago has struck a blow for intellectual rigor and an open and free society. Such rigor requires that all points of view (even those odious) be given an opportunity to be expressed (and if necessary defeated via reason and good sense), and it's refreshing to see an institution make clear and plain to incoming students that this idea –- once considered central to a liberal education -- is still valued. Flag

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NYT Pick ORY brooklyn 1 day ago In a city where 60 people can be shot in one weekend, it does seem an ugly contrast when those who reach such a high level of privilege as to attend a prestigious university then demand yet one more level of protection from all that might wound the heart, - in the form of safe spaces, trigger warnings, speeches that fit comfortably into the existing paradigm ..

If higher education is worth anything, it should by definition be potentially destabilizing, potentially subversive, at the very least requiring intellectual and emotional struggle. A consumer based model of higher eduction prioritizes offending no one. Flag

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NYT Pick BHR New York 1 day ago Let us please not let the cheers of conservatives dissuade us from following in the direction of this letter, I believe this to be the right direction to move in. Dis-inviting controversial speakers is an enemy of discourse, thus an enemy of learning and growing. Being uncomfortable is when we grow the most, are challenged the most, and are forced to confront our feelings and how we form them. At least that's what I remember about being college-aged. And please, please don't cast wide assertions or aspersions on the millennial generation. Their dye is far from cast and they aren't easily or correctly generalized about. Flag

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NYT Pick Adam Massachusetts 1 day ago It seems clear to me that most of the people in the comments section do not actually know what safe spaces and trigger warnings are. Safe spaces are places that students can feel safe from violence and hate. One example is the "safe space program" for LGBT students that UChicago has created. Safe spaces do not shut down dialogue, and they are not places for students tor retreat when confronted by opposing views; rather, they foster support and inclusion among minority groups. Trigger warnings are designed to alert students about potentially offensive material. For example, a student who is a survivor of sexual assault may seek to be notified before viewing a movie that depicts sexual violence. That student can then make appropriate preparations to ensure their well being. In this way, trigger warnings do not prevent free speech. In fact, they do just the opposite. By giving students a heads up about material to be covered, trigger warnings encourage affected students to contribute to a class in a safe and healthy way. UChicago's publicized misunderstanding of the importance of trigger warnings and safe spaces--and, I might add, the New York Times' failure to correctly explain their purpose in this article--will harm the spread of free ideas on campuses across the country. Flag

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NYT Pick James B Pebble Beach 1 day ago I am a west-coast liberal and a parent of one of the incoming 2020 freshman, and I wholeheartedly support the letter -- as does our daughter. It is well thought out, clearly written and it lets the administration, professors and students know where everyone stands.



We have told both of our daughters since they were small that the best things in life are difficult, and that they require hard work, tackling challenges and perhaps enduring some uncomfortable situations. Such is life.



Common sense prevails. Flag

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NYT Pick Sanjay Gupta CT 1 day ago The Chicago "Welcome" letter seems neither conservative nor liberal in its ideological bent; rather, it is entirely superfluous. Candidly, if you need to advise the incoming freshman that lively intellectual debate is an essential feature and expectation of the University, you have failed in your task of composing your incoming class.



I previously served on the Admissions Committee of a highly selective university for several years, and a principal objective was ensuring that the incoming class could not only handle the academic rigor of the the University, but also contribute materially to the intellectual atmosphere. The nature of this letter suggests that Chicago could not compose a class of like-minded individuals who evidenced sufficient intellectual maturity to assure the Dean and administration that this would not be an issue.



The issue of "safe spaces" and "trigger warnings" is nothing more than an evolutionary step in the idealistic realm of the Ivory Tower - new and better forms of borrowed moral outrage will come and go as the fashion changes in years to come. What will never change is the ability to discern intellectual maturity from overweening petulance, unless you cede your judgment to the whim of the latest polls rather than your convictions of what is fair and just.



The Dean might have been better served if he sent a letter reminding what everyone should have learned in kindergarten. His letter suggests he admitted children, not young adults. Flag

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NYT Pick moviebuff Los Angeles 1 day ago Opening this debate is a very good thing. Assigning Dickens, Shakespeare, Twain et al without "warnings" doesn't rule out debate over whether the authors, their characters or the times in which they wrote were racist. I have to wonder if the "sensitivity" of students coincides with a decrease in familiarity with and love of great literature. Last year, I screened scenes from films by Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese - scenes which I had forgotten contained the "n" word - to a cinema class. The instant the lights came up, I apologized for any discomfort the scenes had caused. There was unanimity in the class that there was no need for the apology because the students - black, white, Asian and mixed - knew the films and their makers well enough for it to be clear that the characters on screen were racist, not the movies themselves. Let's promote literacy among college students and generate real debate about racism and gender bias in works of art. Flag

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NYT Pick Nancy Parker Englewood, FL 1 day ago When I attended Michigan State - back in the late 60's and early 70's - the campus and the country were a boiling cauldron of political unrest and divisiveness rarely seen before or since.



Still, everyone was allowed and encouraged to speak - unless the National Guard broke things up at rifle point - at which time we put flowers in their rifle barrels - I know many of you think that sounds "corny" but the visuals are still shown and remembered today.



Certainly, even though tempers are high, and Trump/Clinton camps are widely divided, and philosophies on other issues are contentious - people are not being killed like at Kent State, and surely you can listen to one another - at the time - young adulthood - and at the place - University - where you have been designated that time and place to do this.



Talk. Listen. Learn. Debate. Think.



This is your time and opportunity.



You will never have so much of either again in your adult life. Flag

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NYT Pick hank roden saluda, virginia 1 day ago Years ago a college I attended was asked by political forces to disinvite a neo-Nazi speaker. A professor who had survived a concentration camp disagreed. The Nazi was allowed to speak and his reasoning was so absurd that eventually he was laughed off the stage. We can hear terrible things, yet still defend our positions with reason and kindness. Congrats to the University for a clear statement that attending college means leaving "safe spaces" behind with other childhood things. Flag

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NYT Pick eclectico 7450 1 day ago The general public might not yet be ready for really free speech, i.e. anything short of yelling "Fire" in a crowded theater, but if the students of an esteemed seat of learning aren't then such students aren't ready for that university. If one's ears need to be protected from vile, hate mongers, or whatever, then such ears are not ready for the likes of George Orwell, Voltaire,... Keep in mind that "Ulysses", James Joyce's masterpiece, at one time was banned from the U.S. The long march to full censorship starts with but a single step. Flag

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NYT Pick Smoke11 Washington DC 1 day ago Served for six weeks on a Washington DC Grand Jury. No trigger warnings. Just a steady stream of the most horrific crimes imaginable: child abuse, rape, murder. We heard it all from cops, prosecutors and witnesses. Again, no trigger warnings.



Life comes without trigger warnings. There aren't any safe spaces.



I can't unlearn what I heard in the grand jury. It has stayed with me. But I'll take that burden. Flag

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NYT Pick Charlie Mike Nyc 1 day ago You know what is politically incorrect and potentially offensive, every single day? Life. I've been wondering if these ivied halls were producing graduates thoroughly incapable of holding down a job at a normal firm, with all the office politics, different personalities, etc. Bravo. Flag

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NYT Pick mark w leesburg va 1 day ago Good for the University of Chicago. University students should be mature enough to deal with disagreeable ideas and to allow others to pursue their beliefs. If they cannot deal with freedom of ideas, they should not attend University. Flag

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NYT Pick Adam Massachusetts 1 day ago Hi James,



Unfortunately, although universities may not tolerate hate, that does not mean they can prevent it. Racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, antisemitism, islamophobia, and ableism all run rampant on university campuses. Safe spaces are important for people who do not identify as straight, white men--people who have an identity that is attacked. They use them to connect with people dealing with similar issues. And they are not limited to college campuses. Support groups, such as an AA meeting, are safe spaces. They are places for people to go to express themselves without fear of judgment or retaliation.



Tigger warnings can be misused, but their primary purpose is to ensure that offensive content is not seen/heard without proper notification. We do this in real life all the time. Movie ratings (G, PG, R) are warnings to parents about content. Newscasters will always say when they are about to show content that some viewers may find upsetting. The job of a university is to encourage productive and thoughtful dialogue from a variety of perspectives. In no way is that hindered by notifying victims of trauma about the content that they are about to engage with. Flag

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NYT Pick RJS Phoenix, AZ 1 day ago The very idea of so called tigger warnings is absurd. In real life there are no trigger warnings. In real life, one never knows what he or she will come up against. You can't protect yourself from uncomfortable feelings—especially ones that linger from life's traumas. The best way is to learn healthy coping mechanisms and have the ability to self soothe for our emotional upsets and not to artificially wall off what might trigger them.



And as for students disinviting speakers they do not agree with or condone fully is also absurd. Walling off free speech is antithetical to our first amendment guaranteeing freedom of expression. Only wanting to hear somebody echo back your own beliefs is dangerous. Intellectual echo chambers create extremism and has in fact been a factor in creating both the far right and far left fractions that we now see in the U.S. Flag

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NYT Pick Katherine Cagle Winston-Salem, NC 1 day ago At my high school students read Mark Twain. The teachers explained why Twain's use of the language might seem offensive today. Some students admitted to being a bit uncomfortable at first, but as they read the book they warmed to Twain. They discussed the literature and the language. They all emerged loving Mark Twain and read some of his essays as well. And these were high school students! When students go off to college they should have matured enough to handle different viewpoints. If they haven't then it is to the detriment of us all. Flag

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NYT Pick J. Cornelio Washington, Conn. 1 day ago A generation ago, E.O. Wilson was vilified for daring to suggest that human beings are not born as "blank slates" but come into this world with a set of genetic predispositions for all sorts of traits. Racist, misogynist, ignorant were only a few of the epithets hurled at him for his ideas which, most certainly, do unsettle and can be used by those who are small minded and close hearted. But he was neither. He was just a brilliant academic willing to explore evidence wherever it might lead.



Today, Wilson is a respected emeritus professor from Harvard.



How many present-day Wilson's are we silencing by our overwrought political correctness?



Worse, how much oxygen are we giving to fear-mongering, sociopathic politicians who can point to the predominant culture's refusal to address facts and evidence as a sign of its hypocrisy and dysfunction? Flag

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NYT Pick PB CNY 1 day ago Undoubtedly, the seeming humanitarian intentions of the safe-space and pc-language patrol students on college campuses are well meaning. But the approach and methods they use to try to solve the problem are undemocratic and anything but convincing. You cannot teach tolerance for differences by acting intolerant. It's a means-end problem that these students will face throughout life.



They are college students and need to be challenged to come up with more effective ways to address their concerns. The University of Chicago's stand is a prod in the right direction for both students and faculty. Flag

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NYT Pick Brice C. Showell Philadelphia 1 day ago Should those who wish to control speech have the right to speak as well? Will one viewpoint be drowned out by another with a much larger megaphone? If universities will not manage who can speak and who not they must at least insure that there is a debate during any speech. Not allowing time for this may be the equivalent of endorsing the speakers viewpoint: speech and counter-speech must occur within a reasonable time and space to the same audience. Otherwise you create those "echo chambers". Free debates are a necessity to free speech. Flag

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NYT Pick Andy Salt Lake City, UT 3 hours ago I didn't realize the phenomenon was so dire as to warrant a rebuke. I've heard the buzz words and jargon thrown around. However, I've never actually seen students organizing to defend sensitivity protections. Outside the minority of students that feel the need to protest something for the sake of outrage, I'm guessing everyone else just doesn't care that much. Administrators and professors are making an issue out of very little.



I had a nice conversation with an old professor and friend not long ago. My take away was that the greater threat to academia was the corporatization of education. The sensitivity argument folds somewhere into the middle of that larger debate. Just another front on the battlefield so to speak. Students act as either ballast or leverage depending on your position. Their actual education is ancillary to the broader concerns of faculty and administration.



Personally, I think students need to wise-up. They're getting pushed around. As for classroom sensitivity, I remember one of the first clubs I ever joined. It was called "Put you hand down in lecture. No one cares." I wonder if our chapter still exists. Flag

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NYT Pick Eve Santa Monica 3 hours ago My first reaction to the dean's letter was the same as nearly every commenter's-- approval. Then my sophomore-in-college daughter discussed it with me, and I saw that we really need to understand what safe spaces and trigger warnings are, what they mean to the people who are helped by them, and think about how easy, tempting, and wrong it is to ridicule and dismiss the people among us who need a little empathy and assistance in finding their strength.

Don't censor, and don't support bullying. There was a time when ramps for wheelchairs were ridiculed, too. Not all empathy weakens our society. Flag

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