We’ve written before about how college campuses across the country are increasing suppressing speech and academic freedom and how, shockingly, many of these directives have been advanced by the students themselves.
But the University of Chicago is taking a stand against the use of trigger warnings and safe spaces. Here’s the latest news from IWF’s Charlotte Allen:
The University of Chicago has issued a warning to incoming freshmen not to expect either "safe spaces" or "trigger warnings" on its Hyde Park campus and reiterated that open debate and commitment to intellectual freedom will be the hallmark of their experience there. Inside Higher Education reports:
They all received a letter recently from John Ellison, dean of students, which went beyond the usual platitudes of such letters and made several points about what he called one of Chicago's "defining characteristics," which he said was "our commitment to freedom of inquiry and expression." Ellison said civility and respect are "vital to all of us," and people should never be harassed. But he added, "You will find that we expect members of our community to be engaged in rigorous debate, discussion and even disagreement. At times this may challenge you and even cause discomfort."
To that end, he wrote, "Our commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so-called trigger warnings, we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial and we do not condone the creation of intellectual safe spaces where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own."
While this is positive news out of academia, the fact that the dean of students now has to warn college freshmen not to expect safe spaces or trigger warnings when stepping onto campus indicates that this is now the norm for most schools. Click here to learn more about the steps colleges should take to reinstitute academic freedom. Then, please click on the social media icons below to share this important story with your friends and family.