Recently we have learned of another group of university students who decided they were feeling kittenish and prevented an invited speaker from … well, speaking.
Seems to be a ever-increasing tendency on the part of College-Enrolled Young People that “Speech is free for me, but not for thee” should be the default setting.
And the fact that they are being allowed to get away with this is resulting in more of this foolishness, rather than less.
I have Thoughts About This.
If students on campus are intentionally and knowingly preventing invited speakers from speaking, snatch up those students and take them to the University Police Station, where they should be positively identified as students, and issued trespass warnings.
If they are living in student housing, the next stop should be the dorms, where the contents of their rooms should be hucked to the kerb. Pat them on the shoulder, and wish them the best … somewhere off of campus. Trespass warning, and all that.
“But LawDog,” I hear you say, “Where are they going to go?”
I don’t care. Allegedly they’re adults, they can figure it out.
Next business day, the Registrar can figure out how much of the tuition is remaining, and send a cheque for that amount to their home address.
Expelled. Not to return. Period.
Same with unlawfully occupying University buildings and preventing access: Expelled, trespassed, kicked off of campus, money to be sent to home address.
If they’re not enrolled students, then issue them trespass warnings, and the next time they show up on University property arrest them for Criminal Trespass, have them slung into jail, and prosecute them.
They’re doing this, because there are no consequences for this behaviour — and this needs to stop.
As for the professors whom we all know are the actual instigators of this: when the expulsions start racking up, they’ll knock this idiocy off.
Plus, I imagine at least one set of outraged parents will get the name of the instigator out of their sprog — and that should be fun.
We have taken the consequences of being stupid out of the equation, and it’s not doing our children any favours. Time to put consequences back on the table.
And I’m about getting fed up with the entitled little snots.
LawDog
Not only no consequences, but some of the teachers, professors, and administrators encourage it.
Which leads to another group that needs their crap moved to the curb.
I’ve heard from reliable sources that some of the more “uppity” professors offer class credit for participating in shout-downs. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if a few of the true-believing profs require it for a passing grade.
AMEN
And then there’s what happened at a recent Minnesota Democratic Party meeting, where one faction physically assaulted another while storming the stage.
Yep, nothing to see here. All is well.
There are consequences. It’s just that they are rewards, not punishments.
Also, student loans are immediately called for repayment (they are no longer students after all) and all scholarships are canceled. No more financial aid. They are blackballed and no longer to be offered any federal student aid.
Part of the problem is that it has been permitted to continue for so long it has become institutionalized. If the schools had been firm back in the 60s when this behavior started we would no longer have the situation we have today. Blame the schools for failing to set explicit limits and then following thru on them when tested.
The idiot sprogs *are* the more numerous component of the problem, but in my mind the center of the fecal-filled Tootsie Pop is professors / university employees setting the example and encouraging the behavior, violating university policies, and actual federal laws.
THOSE are the ones that ought to be facing loss of tenure, loss of jobs, and suchlike as well.
True, and they’ll almost certainly hear from the parents directly, or from the administrators after enough parents (particularly alumni and donors) file complaints and withhold moneys.
But I agree, encouraging and incentivizing this behavior should have direct adverse career consequences.
Great ideas. Are there enough sane adults left in positions of power and control at these institutions to enact and enforce them, or have too many nut-jobs been hired on that they’re now filtering the hiring process to only hire other nut-jobs like themselves?
If the latter, then for that institution the car has already driven over the cliff, and no amount of braking or steering will prevent the inevitable crash.
At this point, it may be easier to just let the whole thing to implode of its own accord, and start over once the dust settles.
I would add that any speaker’s fees and travel expenses for the invited speaker(s) paid by the sponsoring organization should be deducted from the refund money sent home with a note explaining the shortage. For professors encouraging criminal behavior should be grounds for revoking tenure.
Words are violence…man…
I retired from academia 3 years ago due to this foolishness. The administration encouraged it from the President all the way down, and you could be disciplined for speaking out against the censorship.
The only way to fix it is to let it implode: the rot is too deeply embedded to fix.
It’s another example of “follow the money.” That bit about “send back the money” is the whole, entire, and complete reason that institutions of “higher” education put up with this crap. The one I went to never has, and hopefully never will.
“You have been screaming at that invited visitor for 20 minutes. All your pass/fails have just been changed to fails no matter how well you were doing. All your grades have been reduced by one level. Do this again and your grades will be reduced again”. Don’t bother screaming. We’re not listening.
I have a few friends/ relatives in higher academia. Your words are wise. Academia won’t acquiesce, at least in the People’s Republik of Kalipornia.
I’d add an addendum. If the steps don’t work or the administration is aiding & abetting, then the place’s Accreditation & access to Federal (our) monies ought to be revoked. THAT WILL GET THEIR ATTENTION.
Ulises
I agree completely in principle. But these penalties need to be made non-discretionary, so that they apply to all sides. Beware of giving the power to make judgment calls to any office that can change hands with the next administration.
Concur. It’s not only stupid, sooner or later somebody WILL get killed. Then what???
And these students have probably never considered the possibility that they might outlive their usefulness if they win (especially those among them who have too much empathy to make the cut for a totalitarian régime’s Thought Police).