Trigger warnings and safe spaces are particularly popular among college students. Many universities, from Ivy League institutions to community colleges have seen a rise in students demanding their feelings be taken into consideration by the faculty. When feminist scholar and critic, Christina Hoff Sommers gave a lecture at Oberlin College she was met with student-led protest claiming that she was a rape denialist and a toxic presence on campus. Conservative commentator, Ben Shapiro had his speech at UCLA on censorship and diversity on campus protested by the school's the Black Student Union and Black Lives Matter chapter. Both Shapiro and Sommers had to have a police escort.
What is going on at universities across the United States? Why are students so vehemently against hearing different opinions, even radically different ones? Having your convictions challenged should be part of the college experience, as it gives you an opportunity to fully understand your own position as well as the opposing viewpoint. Students who protest individuals (whether liberal or conservative) for having a certain belief are effectively saying that they would rather silence someone than argue in favor of their own views. If the only way for you to defend your position is to prevent the other side from speaking then you don't have much of a position to begin with.
The increasing cry for academics to be censored in order to avoid causing students discomfort should be a warning sign for Americans of all political affiliations. There is no right to not be offended, yet hundreds of college students are protesting in favor of treating their discomfort as a valid reason to limit freedom of speech. Anyone who thinks that this isn't a pressing issue, that it doesn't have any major consequences should tell that to University of Kansas professor Andrea Quenette, Yale University professor Erika Christakis, and Northwestern University professor Laura Kipnis. Each of these professors were either suspended from teaching pending investigation for offensive speech or pressured to leave from offended students. There are many more professors, faculty, and even students who have faced disciplinary action or public shaming for voicing their opinions.
If these restrictions on free speech continue then the future looks pretty grim for higher education and the country as a whole. The minds of college students should not be allowed to narrow to the point that opposing viewpoints elicit panicky denial instead of spirited debate. Midterms and finals are not the biggest tests that students will face at universities. It is whether they are able to stand up and defend their own convictions in the face of opposition or turn to censorship and safe spaces to avoid discomfort. The choice is yours.
