Too many modern students refuse to learn tolerance and respect for diversity of opinion

UNIVERSITIES were once centres of debate and critical thinking, rather than places where a diversity of opinion is to be feared and shouted down, writes Rita Panahi.

There are students who cannot cope with beliefs that differ from their own.

ONCE upon a time, universities were centres of excellence, achievement and critical thinking.

It’s where the best and brightest would expand their minds and engage in robust debates, exploring ideas ranging from the conventional to the contentious.

Those days are long gone.

Sadly, universities, particularly the arts and humanities disciplines, are now inhabited by too many entitled, insufferable idiots with the coping skills of overtired toddlers.

The snowflake generation can neither cope with nor tolerate beliefs, attitudes or opinions that differ from their own. Infantilised and indulged from birth to early adulthood, these echo-chamber-dwelling dolts have developed totalitarian attitudes which demand that dissenting voices be silenced. In an effort to shut down debate, these activist students — whose warped idea of “social justice” and independent thought is regurgitating far-Left talking points with a total disregard for the truth — will abuse, bully and threaten anyone they consider an ideological opponent.

If you think this type of on-campus activism is a US and UK phenomenon, think again. This idiocy is in Australia, and becoming more prevalent by the day.

What a horrible shame that safe spaces, trigger warnings and junk degrees are becoming synonymous with higher learning. Then there’s the absolute intellectual vacuity of cultural appropriation arguments that are increasingly popular on university campuses.

If you’re not familiar with the term “trigger warning”, let me give you an insight into the turgid folly that is turning once-proud institutions into laughing stocks.

Adopted from online forums and blogs, trigger warnings are given to alert students that a sensitive topic is about to be discussed: one that could possibly cause the student to suffer post-traumatic stress symptoms.

The aim is to “protect” students from material — facts, images, topics, points of view — that may be confronting.

La Trobe University’s student union passed a motion to use trigger warnings in student council meetings. Its list of issues requiring a trigger warning is extensive, including the usual fare such as eating disorders, rape, suicide and violence, but also includes vomit, snakes, spiders, Islamophobia, needles, slimy things, insects, classism, food, eye contact, misophonia (hatred of sounds), pregnancy, queerphobia, transphobia, transmisogyny, weapons, sex, and any discussion of “isms” including “shaming, or hatred of any kind (racism, classism, hatred of cultures/ethnicities that differ from your own, sexism, hatred of sexualities or genders that differ from your own, anti-multiple, non-vanilla shaming, sex positive shaming, fat shaming/body image shaming, neuroatypical shaming).”

Seriously.

Any member of the student council failing to abide by those absurd guidelines will face disciplinary action. Doesn’t it feel great to know that your taxes help support this lunacy?

Germaine Greer has faced fierce campaigns against her views.

Student unions at prestigious Melbourne, Monash and Sydney universities have also adopted the use of trigger warnings.

Increasingly students are demanding that trigger warnings be given in class and, sadly, some lecturers and tutors, forever trapped in a first-year arts student mindset, are happy to oblige.

However, some academics and universities are fighting back against the pervasive PC culture where anything deviating from the accepted Leftist doctrine is considered hate speech.

Several academics have spoken out about the dangers of safe spaces and trigger warnings.

But the University of Chicago went one better when it issued a letter to all incoming students explaining that it was committed to “freedom of inquiry and expression” even if that meant rigorous debate that might leave the student uncomfortable. The letter read: “Members of our community are encouraged to speak, write, listen, challenge, and learn, without fear of censorship.

“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.”

Brilliant.

Now, let’s see some Australian universities taking a stand against assaults on academic freedom.

Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland and Cato adjunct scholar Rajshree Agarwal last week wrote about the pressure on academics to toe the PC line.

“In the current campus climate of safe spaces, trigger warnings and outrage over anything politically incorrect, I find myself increasingly holding back and second-guessing myself,” she wrote.

“I’m not the only one. A 2010 study from the American Association of Colleges and Universities shows that only 30 per cent of college seniors and 17 per cent of professors strongly agree it’s safe to hold unpopular points of view on campus.”

So much for safe spaces.

It seems that the only diversity not celebrated at university is diversity of thought.

The climate of censorship at university campuses is so pronounced that even the likes of renowned author and former philosophy professor Christina Hoff Sommers, feminist icon Germaine Greer, and former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice have faced fierce campaigns from students keen to silence them.

Universities must not allow a loud minority of hypersensitive students to stifle free speech and freedom of expression.

Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins summed it up beautifully when he tweeted:

“A university is not a ‘safe space’. If you need a safe space, leave, go home, hug your teddy and suck your thumb until ready for university.”

Rita Panahi is a Herald Sun columnist

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@ritapanahi