Apropos of several things floating across my TL, I just want to say as somebody who teaches college:
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Apropos of several things floating across my TL, I just want to say as somebody who teaches college:
Yes, absolutely, politically conservative students on campus end up feeling uncomfortable in their views, constantly challenged. 100%.
So do leftists.
So do centrists.
So do students who attempt to be apolitical.
Nobody gets to hang out on campus feeling comfortable and cushy in their worldview. That is…you know…kind of the point of the place.
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Apropos of several things floating across my TL, I just want to say as somebody who teaches college:
Yes, absolutely, politically conservative students on campus end up feeling uncomfortable in their views, constantly challenged. 100%.
So do leftists.
So do centrists.
So do students who attempt to be apolitical.
Nobody gets to hang out on campus feeling comfortable and cushy in their worldview. That is…you know…kind of the point of the place.
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I can guarantee that a student who is…I don’t know, say, a devoted communist…feels •far• more uncomfortable expressing their full views on campus at a college in the US than a student who believes in Milton-Friedman-style economics as a force for good.
Complaints about whose political views need special protection are less rooted in who’s actually oppressed than in who thinks they’re entitled to never being questioned.
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I can guarantee that a student who is…I don’t know, say, a devoted communist…feels •far• more uncomfortable expressing their full views on campus at a college in the US than a student who believes in Milton-Friedman-style economics as a force for good.
Complaints about whose political views need special protection are less rooted in who’s actually oppressed than in who thinks they’re entitled to never being questioned.
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But there’s a wrinkle here, one that’s crucial to unwrinkle: the word “conservative” has long had a double meaning.
Many of our political terms do. In the US, for example, “liberal” means “left” unless you’re a leftist in which case it means “laissez-fair” or “neoliberal” or something incoherent but Definitely Bad. (I refuse to even use the word “socialism” anymore without specific clarification about its meaning in a given conversation.)
It’s the double meaning of “conservative” in particular that muddies this discussion about views on campus.
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But there’s a wrinkle here, one that’s crucial to unwrinkle: the word “conservative” has long had a double meaning.
Many of our political terms do. In the US, for example, “liberal” means “left” unless you’re a leftist in which case it means “laissez-fair” or “neoliberal” or something incoherent but Definitely Bad. (I refuse to even use the word “socialism” anymore without specific clarification about its meaning in a given conversation.)
It’s the double meaning of “conservative” in particular that muddies this discussion about views on campus.
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In •public discussion• about conservatives supposedly being oppressed on campus, people act like that means free markets, minimal government, centering religion, etc.
But the •actual experience• the loudest complainers are talking about is very often (not always, but •very• often) that they were ostracized for being transphoic, queerphobic, racist, and/or religiously bigoted.
“Conservative views” gets to mean something polite and acceptable in op-eds, but then gets to mean outright fascism on the ground.
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In •public discussion• about conservatives supposedly being oppressed on campus, people act like that means free markets, minimal government, centering religion, etc.
But the •actual experience• the loudest complainers are talking about is very often (not always, but •very• often) that they were ostracized for being transphoic, queerphobic, racist, and/or religiously bigoted.
“Conservative views” gets to mean something polite and acceptable in op-eds, but then gets to mean outright fascism on the ground.
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And this is where the discussion gets hard.
There are some mission-based things that are not up for negotiation. Our mission is to create an environment where students can learn. We create a bubble of personal safety within which students can become intellectually uncomfortable. That latter •requires• the former. That is our job.
If one student makes another unsafe — not intellectually challenged, but in actual danger — that is not OK. It does not magically become OK because we deem the threatener’s threats “political.”
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And this is where the discussion gets hard.
There are some mission-based things that are not up for negotiation. Our mission is to create an environment where students can learn. We create a bubble of personal safety within which students can become intellectually uncomfortable. That latter •requires• the former. That is our job.
If one student makes another unsafe — not intellectually challenged, but in actual danger — that is not OK. It does not magically become OK because we deem the threatener’s threats “political.”
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One of the ground-level premises of my institution of higher ed — and of most of them — is that everyone deserves to feel safe on campus so that they can learn together, with one exception (per Karl Popper): you’re not welcome if you don’t accept this premise.
So yes, there are some beliefs that are unacceptable on campus. No Nazis.
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S suneauken@mastodon.world shared this topic
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Apropos of several things floating across my TL, I just want to say as somebody who teaches college:
Yes, absolutely, politically conservative students on campus end up feeling uncomfortable in their views, constantly challenged. 100%.
So do leftists.
So do centrists.
So do students who attempt to be apolitical.
Nobody gets to hang out on campus feeling comfortable and cushy in their worldview. That is…you know…kind of the point of the place.
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Thank you sir. This colleague agrees 100%.
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A abekonge@venner.network shared this topic
