December 1, 2015

Letter to the Editor: A Change for the Worse

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The following is an open letter to Cornell University:

It is more than distressing to see Cornell students and the new administration caving in to mob demands for “safe spaces” and against “microaggressions,” for “trigger warnings,” labeling of others as haters, bigots and racists for daring to have opposite view opinions, shutting down discussions of ideas, amorphous demands to enhance cultural sensitivity training in the name of promoting identity politics — all at the expense of the true mission of the university: to reaffirm the Liberal ideals of academic freedom and individual liberty that are the hallmarks of a true education. The chickens have clearly come home to roost in this stew of left-liberal academia. We are now raising a generation of coddled, narcissistic, self-absorbed, thin-skinned young people, permanent “victims,” who will be ill-equipped to function effectively in the real world outside the shelter of the academy. Cornell’s reputation as a lodestar of diversity is in danger of becoming a joke. Is Cornell now to become a daycare center? These students have no real idea what their predecessors 40 years ago endured, real life oppression and racism which tore at the fabric of this country, which they successfully fought. Are things here now perfect? No, vast improvements have been made to enable today’s students to thrive, and we are far better than we ever were. Get over it, get back to your books and study and become the respectable leaders of this greatest nation that we expect you to be.

Lee Bender ’84