During a forum hosted by Cheng, NAU sophomore Breanna Kramer asked the following (per KPNX):
And while Kramer expected a softball response from her school's president, what she actually got was a heaping dose of 'real life'...which, of course, immediately 'triggered' every snowflake within an earshot of the president's 'microaggression'."How can you promote safe spaces, if you don't take action in situations of injustice, such as, last week, when we had the preacher on campus and he was promoting hate speech against marginalized students? As well as, not speaking out against racist incidents like blackface two months ago by student workers followed by no reform and no repercussions?"
In the aftermath of the atrocity, NAU students took to Facebook to do what all snowflakes do when their bastions of liberalism refuse to bend to their every demand...namely, organize a protest..."As a university professor, I'm not sure I have any support at all for safe space. I think that you as a student have to develop the skills to be successful in this world and that we need to provide you with the opportunity for discourse and debate and dialogue and academic inquiry, and I'm not sure that that is correlated with the notion of safe space as I've seen that."
Meanwhile, the mass-triggering event caused local news agencies to spring into action with a series of accusatory questions...
We'll set the over/under at 1 week for Cheng's remaining tenure at NAU....Q: What does President Cheng think about the NAU SAC asking for her resignation if she doesn't provide a safe space for all students?
A: NAU is safe. Creating segregated spaces for different groups on our campus only [leads] to misunderstanding, distrust and [reduces] the opportunity for discussion and engagement and education around diversity. Our classrooms and our campus is a place for engagement and respect - a place to learn from each other. NAU is committed to an atmosphere that is conducive to teaching and learning.
Q: Does she only bring up diversity and equality on campus when it opens up the school for grant and fund eligibility?
A: President Cheng has been addressing diversity and equality in her words and her actions since the day she arrived at NAU. Her leadership in advocating for our students and their success is reflected in the fact that our enrollment mirrors the diversity of our State.
Q: Is she willing to sit down with NAU SAC representatives (if she hasn't already) to hear their concerns and see what she can do to address them?
A: Yes. The President is and has always been willing to meet with representatives of student groups. There were hundreds of people at Wednesday's forum - faculty staff and students. The few dozen who left, missed the opportunity to hear the questions of others, including several similar to theirs, and the answers that followed.
Reader Comments
And what's a "microaggression"? Sounds like somebody poking you with a pen.
All this snowflake crap is rather confusing to me.
If women who have been abused need a place to be with "like minded women" then maybe they should go to a therapeutic retreat or to a "support group." That's what those are there for, but a "safe space" should be a place where all can engage in conversation about the hard facts that we must face everyday of our lives.
These types of places are also going to create a class of people that don't know how to deal with their emotions or the "real world," because they will need a place to cope rather than creating that place within their mind.
There is a place
Where I can go
When I feel low
When I feel blue
And it's my mind
And there's no time, when I'm alone.
In my mind there's no sorrow
Don't you know that it's so
There'll be no sad tomorrow
Don't you know that it's so