I didn’t know what to expect from your commencement speech today, but I was sadly disappointed.
As the faculty of our university stood in front of us today and discussed how far this university has to go in terms of making our campus inclusive of more than just rich, white New Yorkers like yourself, you stood there and told us college campuses are endangering our ability to think freely by encouraging spaces that are inclusive of all.
Huh?
Huh?
I want to make something clear to the VERY confused people who don’t understand what the often thrown around “safe space” means. A safe space is a space in which you are able to say whatever you feel like sharing in a confidential setting, with respect to the perspectives and experiences of others.
That’s it. That’s all it means.
It is not censoring thoughts, ideas, or opinions.
In the broadest of senses, the classroom, and life in general, should be considered a safe space (minus the confidentiality part). You should feel free to say whatever you want without persecution as long as you’re not deliberately causing harm to others in the process.
Hey, what’s the argument against safe spaces again?? One of the amendments, right?? The 1st one? That says you should be able to say whatever you want…..with a few limitations…..to prevent harming….oh.
Don’t tell us graduates that the idea of safe spaces is harming our ability to think freely and fully when we still have students writing anti-Islamic hate speech on our campus. It’s easy for you, a white man, to stand onstage and blithely tell our class that “microaggressions are just that—micro.”
You’re right, Mr. Bloomberg, people like you and I don’t necessarily *need* safe spaces because the world is already looking out for us. Our voices already are the majority. But if I had to fathom a guess, I’d say the Muslim, Black, and Latino students unfortunately can’t feel the same comfort wherever they go, not even the campus they choose to attend. This university has given me the most enriching opportunity to understand the perspectives of minorities, and I don’t need you telling me today that 3 years of becoming an empathetic and better human is harming society. You’re wrong.
You also mockingly tossed in the phrase “trigger warning” in this misguided speech. Another misunderstood phrase, trigger warning is used to preface content that may trigger physiological Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms in those with PTSD.
It is not a warning that what you’re about to read may be differing from your own opinion. It is not censorship. It is providing those who have survived horrible events the opportunity to not relive them. It is being considerate of others, which, again, is not bad for society.
Triggers are not imagined, they are scientific fact. As much as peanuts can trigger anaphylactic shock in someone with a peanut allergy, rape scenes and fireworks can trigger physiological PTSD symptoms in sexual assault survivors and veterans. When you mock trigger warnings, you belittle the mental health of people who are overcoming more than you hopefully will ever know.
Which is an interesting hypocrisy. Just recently, our campus was in a huge uproar about mental health transparency and resources after we lost a fellow Wolverine to suicide. Our student government has plans to expand our mental health facilities and there is a constant push to reduce the stigma of mental health conversations. Yet when we do so, we are told we are allowing ourselves to become mentally weak by closing ourselves off to content damaging to our mental health.
You can’t have it both ways. You can’t encourage people to seek help for mental health struggles and then mock them for using trigger warnings or wanting safe spaces. No wonder we’re all confused about how to handle mental health. The current approach is not working, yet we’re being scolded for innovating new approaches. From that perspective, it sounds more like the ones scolding us are limiting our ability to think more than we are limiting ourselves.
I’m not sure where the “today’s college students are coddled” rhetoric came from, but it’s a fallacy. It’s not real, and it’s not true. I’m tired of our generation being endlessly belittled, mocked, and told we’re wrong by older people who don’t even have any interactions with us. College has opened my eyes to the world and taught me new ways of thinking that I’ll never experience elsewhere. If anything, the generations before us are the ones who are closing their minds off; they refuse to accept that we might not be as stupid as they tell us we are.
With all due respect, Mr. Bloomberg, luckily, we don’t have to listen to you. Yep, that’s right, another millennial downfall: we just don’t listen! Specifically, we don’t bother listening to those who try to stifle us. My fellow graduates of 2016 are some of the most intelligent, driven, hardworking, innovative, talented, soon to be successful, and yes, free thinking people I will ever be so humbled to share a status with. We did not spend 4 years at one of the most esteemed universities in the world to be told today that our ways of thinking are leading us down the wrong path. Our paths are just beginning, and they’re going to shape the world.
Mr. Bloomberg, I hope this has revealed there is a lot more to being a Wolverine than trips to Rick’s and Pizza House. Wolverines are able to think critically and think for ourselves. Our college atmosphere has not closed off our minds but opened them to endless possibilities and opportunities. Our school forces us to confront our shortcomings in the way we think, and explore new ways we’ve never had to before. If this is what being close minded looks like, then the world is pretty damn lucky to have us as the leaders and the best.
Sincerely,
Just Your Average Coddled and Offended By Everything Millennial!!!!!!!
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