Colleges need to go all PATCO on anti-free speech student demands

Colleges need to go all PATCO on anti-free speech student demands

Two generations of far leftist Humanities and Social Sciences faculty proselytizing, in which every student except for straight Christian white males is a victim of systemic discrimination and repression, have finally paid off.

We, or rather they, have created a cadre of little bullies who demand the repression of other students’ expression and thoughts, in order to implement a new order on the campuses based on the feelings and sensitivities of the crowd.

From Yale to Mizzou to dozens of other campuses, mob rule rules.

Aleister summarized a week’s worth of such thuggery in Madness Week at College Insurrection, and Cornell student Casey Breznick got to the core of the problem in Snowflake Protesters — Struggling to find a Struggle:

The more recent developments of the ridiculous notions of trigger warnings and safe spaces are only the latest manifestations of this self-defeating endeavor to placate the increasingly deranged mindset of the most perturbed and eccentric of students….

In order to compensate for the lack of struggle like that experienced by their heroes, the student protesters now combat slights, snubs, offenses, mean-spirited comments, claims of unsafe campuses, etc. as as their form of struggle. This largely explains the advent of microaggressions, intersectionality, invalidated experiences, and hurt feelings as major transgressions and offenses treated equivalently to bodily harm, and the advent of safe spaces, trigger warnings, and speech codes as remedies….

The saddest part of all of this is that every time the rational and even-headed come out on top, or whenever the students are appeased but not to the extent they want, they take this is a validation of their struggle: the “system” is designed to oppress them. Administrators think they have acquiesced enough, while the students simply gear up for the next set of demands, after having invented even more offenses and elements of their never-ending struggle.

There is no evidence that a few weeks of administrative capitulation have done anything but make the demands even more outlandish.

Campus Reform reports, Amherst students demand crackdown against free speech:

Students at Amherst College are demanding that the school’s president accede to a list of demands that would effectively eliminate free speech on campus.

The demands, which were presented in person Thursday evening to college President Biddy Martin, are outlined in a letter published by Amherst Soul, which also notes that the students expect action to be initiated within “24-48 hours” and completed by Wednesday, November 18 (roughly six days after they were first issued). If those deadlines are not met, they warn, “we will organize and respond in a radical manner, through civil disobedience.” …

“We have begun this movement, Amherst Uprising, in an effort to change the status quo for a more just and inclusive environment within our campus,” the letter states. “We demand that Amherst become a leader in the fight to promote a better social climate towards individuals who have been systematically oppressed.”

First, the students demand that both President Martin and Board of Trustees Chairman Cullen Murphy issue statements apologizing to those impacted by “injustices including but not limited to our institutional legacy of white supremacy, colonialism, anti-black racism, anti-Latinx [sic] racism, anti-Native American racism, anti-Native/indigenous racism, anti-Asian racism, anti-Middle Eastern racism, heterosexism, cis-sexism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, ableism, mental health stigma, and classism.”

Anticipating a negative reaction to their letter, the students also insist that the campus police department “must issue a statement of protection and defense from any form of violence, threats, or retaliation of any kind resulting from this movement.”

More specifically, they want President Martin to denounce the actions of students who displayed “All Lives Matter” and “Free Speech” posters, and to warn the student body that in the future, “racially insensitive” speech would merit disciplinary action.

The full set of demands is at the Amherst Uprising website and you can follow the @uprisingamherst Twitter account, which announced just minutes ago:

That many faculty and administrators are joining in the calls for repression is not a sign that the demands are justified, but that the people who helped create the problem may not be capable of protecting all students.

The President of Amherst is well on the road to capitulation:

[Note added: This afternoon, the President of Amherst issued a lengthy convoluted statement acknowledging the protesters legitimate concerns: “That pain is real. Their expressions of loneliness and sense of invisibility are heartrending. But, “the formulation of those demands assumed more authority and control than a president has or should have.”]

Certainly, college administrators have messed things up to a great degree. And calls for some reform are justified. Students are right to feel trapped by a higher ed bubble that is bursting.

But suppression of other students’ speech as a cure is worse than the disease.

I suggest colleges go PATCO (Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization) on the anti-free speech bullies. Take a lesson from Ronald Reagan who, when PATCO went on an illegal strike, fired them.

Colleges don’t need to “fire” students, but colleges do need to fire the demands of those who think the answer to their problems is to repress other students.

If students who hate the free speech of others don’t like it, they can go elsewhere. I’ve yet to hear of a student who was forced to attend a particular high-priced college against his or her will.

Don’t give in to repressive demands. All students matter.

[Featured Image: Amherst student protest via Amherst Uprising]

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