# I'm a Liberal Professor, and My Liberal Students Terrify Me: Their Sensitivity and Paranoia **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 7, 2015, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-liberal-professor-and-my-liberal-students-terrify-me-their-sensitivity-and-paranoia/721907 "2015-06-07T17:29:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-liberal-professor-and-my-liberal-students-terrify-me-their-sensitivity-and-paranoia/721907/1 "2015-06-07T17:29:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Commentators on the left and right have recently criticized the sensitivity and paranoia of today’s college students. They worry about the stifling of free speech, the implementation of unenforceable conduct codes, and a general hostility against opinions and viewpoints that could cause students so much as a hint of discomfort. > **[I'm a liberal professor, and my liberal students terrify me](https://www.vox.com/2015/6/3/8706323/college-professor-afraid)** > > Vox is a general interest news site for the 21st century. Its mission: to help everyone understand our complicated world, so that we can all help shape it. In text, video and audio, our reporters explain politics, policy, world affairs, technology,... I don’t recall this atmosphere when I went to college–quite some time ago. I have no connection to the current academic world and am interested if this is common. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-liberal-professor-and-my-liberal-students-terrify-me-their-sensitivity-and-paranoia/721907/2 "2015-06-07T17:35:12Z")
One major difference in the last couple of decades is that most professors now lack any labor protection (tenure) in an extremely tight job market, and so any vaguely negative report from a student can kill them. There is also a genuine shift in which students are more likely to complain about being offended or emotionally injured. Though it’s worth noting that this professor’s sole personal example involved a _conservative_ student–which is a rather odd proof of the thesis that his liberal students terrify him. ---
**Author:** ![SarahR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@SarahR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SarahR)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-liberal-professor-and-my-liberal-students-terrify-me-their-sensitivity-and-paranoia/721907/3 "2015-06-07T19:47:58Z")
He is talking about all this stuff that ‘would’ happen if there was a complaint about him, but it’s an entirely hypothetical scenario. Nobody has complained and he hasn’t been fired or forced to change his teaching methods, so why should we be convinced that he is correct rather than just paranoid himself? Plus as has been mentioned his one complaint so far was from a conservative student, so his conclusion that liberals are to blame for why he can’t teach what he wants seems a little biased. To be honest it all smacks of ‘it’s political correctness GONE MAD’ handwringing. Students have a right to complain if they feel a teacher has offended them and teachers have a right to defend themselves. The only evidence we have that the system is biased against the teachers is ‘because I say it is’. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-liberal-professor-and-my-liberal-students-terrify-me-their-sensitivity-and-paranoia/721907/4 "2015-06-07T21:15:01Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > Though it’s worth noting that this professor’s sole personal example involved a _conservative_ student–which is a rather odd proof of the thesis that his liberal students terrify him. > [@SarahR](#): > > Plus as has been mentioned his one complaint so far was from a conservative student, so his conclusion that liberals are to blame for why he can’t teach what he wants seems a little biased. That conservative student’s complaint was no threat to him. The complaint had already been dismissed in his director’s mind before she even heard his side of the story. The same is not true when censor-happy little shits try to silence lecturers with accusations of “creating a hostile environment” and “retaliation” under Title IX. ---
**Author:** ![Boogly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Boogly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boogly)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-liberal-professor-and-my-liberal-students-terrify-me-their-sensitivity-and-paranoia/721907/5 "2015-06-07T21:39:05Z")
It sounds like this Liberal Arts teacher has issues teaching liberal arts. I am not a liberal arts student but isn’t this a type of class where students to debate over various subjects? If so it sounds like this teacher was in the perfect spot but perhaps he couldn’t get a debate going? Maybe the teacher is in a bad location and/or a bad institution and looking at moving on should be some serious thought. Or maybe he is using/trolling the website to drive up his blog numbers. > **[The liberal professor "afraid of his students" is missing the real threat to...](https://www.vox.com/2015/6/5/8736591/liberal-professor-identity)** > > The real issue behind the explosive debate over political correctness on campus. Same website and looks to be a couple of days later. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-liberal-professor-and-my-liberal-students-terrify-me-their-sensitivity-and-paranoia/721907/6 "2015-06-07T21:44:37Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > That conservative student’s complaint was no threat to him. The complaint had already been dismissed in his director’s mind before she even heard his side of the story. The same is not true when censor-happy little shits try to silence lecturers with accusations of “creating a hostile environment” and “retaliation” under Title IX. And yet, the writer was unable to offer a personal example. And in the case you’re probably thinking of, that charge was also dismissed by the school. Which tells me that the problem is not Title IX, which entertains and dismisses frivolous claims, but instead that teachers can be made so fearful about these complaints because they are genuinely vulnerable for other reasons. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-liberal-professor-and-my-liberal-students-terrify-me-their-sensitivity-and-paranoia/721907/7 "2015-06-07T22:02:18Z")
> [@SarahR](#): > > He is talking about all this stuff that ‘would’ happen if there was a complaint about him, but it’s an entirely hypothetical scenario. Nobody has complained and he hasn’t been fired or forced to change his teaching methods, so why should we be convinced that he is correct rather than just paranoid himself? Plus as has been mentioned his one complaint so far was from a conservative student, so his conclusion that liberals are to blame for why he can’t teach what he wants seems a little biased. > > To be honest it all smacks of ‘it’s political correctness GONE MAD’ handwringing. Students have a right to complain if they feel a teacher has offended them and teachers have a right to defend themselves. The only evidence we have that the system is biased against the teachers is ‘because I say it is’. It’s not hypothetical and it’s gotten significantly worse. I watched shit just like this go down twice when I was an undergrad, and that was at an engineering school more than a decade ago, hardly known for being a bastion of political correctness. In short, one adjunct got canned and another disciplined as a direct result of fairly inoffensive material that they required for class, because a few students got their widdle feelings hurt. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-liberal-professor-and-my-liberal-students-terrify-me-their-sensitivity-and-paranoia/721907/8 "2015-06-07T22:15:23Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > Which tells me that the problem is not Title IX, which entertains and dismisses frivolous claims, but instead that teachers can be made so fearful about these complaints because they are genuinely vulnerable for other reasons. In the follow-up article \*\*Boogly \*\*links to in post #5 it is argued that the real problem is the non-tenured faculty has become the “weakest link” when response to a student complaint or negative feedback is called for – easy to just remove and replace with the glutted market of could-be docent PhDs The articles claim that it’s because of a view of the student as “paying customer”; it can also be because of an issue with the intensified publicity about administrations not paying attention to student grievances. But it seems the substantial part either way really is the treatment of the adjunct as disposable. ---
**Author:** ![SarahR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@SarahR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SarahR)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-liberal-professor-and-my-liberal-students-terrify-me-their-sensitivity-and-paranoia/721907/9 "2015-06-07T22:20:49Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > It’s not hypothetical and it’s gotten significantly worse. I watched shit just like this go down twice when I was an undergrad, and that was at an engineering school more than a decade ago, hardly known for being a bastion of political correctness. In short, one adjunct got canned and another disciplined as a direct result of fairly inoffensive material that they required for class, because a few students got their widdle feelings hurt. So you can confidently claim this is a serious and worsening problem, based on two anecdotal accounts from more than a decade ago. Sad as it is that is still two more examples than he gives in his supposedly revealing expose. If you explained your examples then maybe I would be able to give you an opinion, but anyone who simply says ‘damn liberals with their political correctness’ without giving any evidence should not be taken seriously. Firing someone for being offensive or otherwise having biased opinions is not wrong in itself, so if you want people to believe it is you have to back up your claims. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-liberal-professor-and-my-liberal-students-terrify-me-their-sensitivity-and-paranoia/721907/10 "2015-06-07T22:49:09Z")
I like the word he invented, “communisticism”, after the student accused him of “communistical sympathies”. > [@](#): > > In 2009, the subject of my student’s complaint was my supposed ideology. I was communistical, the student felt, and everyone knows that communisticism is wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-liberal-professor-and-my-liberal-students-terrify-me-their-sensitivity-and-paranoia/721907/11 "2015-06-07T23:41:31Z")
I saw the writing on the wall many years ago, when a certain “newsman” came on the scene. With him using his slick tongue and far-reaching soapbox during a time when folks only had a few TV channels to select from, the meanings to many words began to change … and soon people by the millions began tap dancing … while acting like everything was fine and not daring to question what was going on. The British-born progenitor of the insanity now lives in quiet retirement, enjoying the many millions of $ his deal with the devil got him, and while thousands in his old profession continue on the course he set with his lying, cowardly ways. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-liberal-professor-and-my-liberal-students-terrify-me-their-sensitivity-and-paranoia/721907/12 "2015-06-07T23:45:53Z")
> [@Dibbs](#): > > I saw the writing on the wall many years ago, when a certain “newsman” came on the scene. With him using his slick tongue and far-reaching soapbox during a time when folks only had a few TV channels to select from, the meanings to many words began to change … and soon people by the millions began tap dancing … while acting like everything was fine and not daring to question what was going on. > > The British-born progenitor of the insanity now lives in quiet retirement, enjoying the many millions of $ his deal with the devil got him, and while thousands in his old profession continue on the course he set with his lying, cowardly ways. Who are you talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-liberal-professor-and-my-liberal-students-terrify-me-their-sensitivity-and-paranoia/721907/13 "2015-06-08T00:38:56Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > One major difference in the last couple of decades is that most professors now lack any labor protection (tenure) in an extremely tight job market, and so any vaguely negative report from a student can kill them. > > There is also a genuine shift in which students are more likely to complain about being offended or emotionally injured. Though it’s worth noting that this professor’s sole personal example involved a _conservative_ student–which is a rather odd proof of the thesis that his liberal students terrify him. His example was from the past, and as he notes, he was allowed to rebut the conservative student’s complaint, that complaint was then dismissed with prejudice, and he didn’t hesitate to reuse the same video in later semesters and the student’s complaint had no impact on his performance evaluations. His thesis is that times have changed so much that a similarly baseless complaint from a liberal student would have the kind of traction that the older complaint never could achieve. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-liberal-professor-and-my-liberal-students-terrify-me-their-sensitivity-and-paranoia/721907/14 "2015-06-08T00:45:22Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > His thesis is that times have changed so much that a similarly baseless complaint from a liberal student would have the kind of traction that the older complaint never could achieve. I agree. Though we’re talking about a difference of less than six years, which I think should instantly make us skeptical of such a sea change. If you prefer, I could have phrased my post as “He does not have any personal examples to offer.” He claims that he has only avoided this terrible fate because he is so cautious. But that’s a bit like my rock that keeps tigers away. I’m actually quite sympathetic to the idea that (mostly liberal) student’s oversensitivity is causing adjunct professors to censor themselves. I believe that’s probably true. But I think it is mostly a problem of lack of labor protections and a tight labor market, and only at the margins a change in student sensitivity and discourse over “offense” injuries. Professors who are tenured face these complaints, but when the complaints are ultimately dismissed, that’s the end of it. Just like this author’s story from 2009. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-liberal-professor-and-my-liberal-students-terrify-me-their-sensitivity-and-paranoia/721907/15 "2015-06-08T01:10:44Z")
> [@SarahR](#): > > He is talking about all this stuff that ‘would’ happen if there was a complaint about him, but it’s an entirely hypothetical scenario. Nobody has complained and he hasn’t been fired or forced to change his teaching methods, so why should we be convinced that he is correct rather than just paranoid himself? Plus as has been mentioned his one complaint so far was from a conservative student, so his conclusion that liberals are to blame for why he can’t teach what he wants seems a little biased. It doesn’t take a bit of evidence to cause all kinds of chaos and this isn’t something new. Look at the Duke Lacrosse team and how fast that spun out of control. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-liberal-professor-and-my-liberal-students-terrify-me-their-sensitivity-and-paranoia/721907/16 "2015-06-08T02:45:31Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Who are you talking about? John Cleese. **Dibbs** is a bit confused. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-liberal-professor-and-my-liberal-students-terrify-me-their-sensitivity-and-paranoia/721907/17 "2015-06-08T03:19:13Z")
I have no idea what the reality of this professor’s situation may be. As a very small data sample, the last time I adjuncted (good word, huh?) I had no similar issues, and that was at a small college known for its very liberal and often quite activist student body; I will be adjuncting there again next spring and don’t anticipate any problems. And my wife, a full-time college professor at a different, less activist, institution, has not experienced this sort of thing either. However, I think it would be incorrect to assume that the professor is overreacting and/or making things up. Here ([Feminist Prof Cleared of Sexual Misconduct for Writing an Essay](http://jezebel.com/feminist-prof-cleared-of-sexual-misconduct-for-writing-1708264024)) is a piece about a (liberal feminist) professor who ran into trouble (from liberal feminist students) regarding things she tweeted. She was recently cleared of any misbehavior, but it seems to have been a close call–and the whole thing is evidently not yet over. I don’t pretend to understand all the issues, and I couldn’t tell you how common this sort of thing is, but this sure sounds like the kind of thing the professor who wrote the piece mentioned in the OP is worried about–and I would argue justifiably so. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-liberal-professor-and-my-liberal-students-terrify-me-their-sensitivity-and-paranoia/721907/18 "2015-06-08T03:46:37Z")
The professor seems confused. _If_ his (unrealized) fears that a students claim of offense could lead to dramatic repercussions is more than in his imagination, then the problem is not in his students “identity politics” and lack of engagement with divergent perspectives … it is with the way (per his description) the administration evaluates a teacher’s value. The goal of a liberal arts program is to develop critical thinking skills and to learn the skills required for critical analysis across multiple cognitive platforms. If the administration _is_ (and we have only his perception that such is the case as “evidence” of such) by disciplinary action setting a tone that the ideas and preconceptions that students come with should coddled rather than critical thinking and polite debate encouraged and modeled, then the fault lies not with the students (or “customers”) but with a program that falsely claims to be of the liberal arts tradition. A teacher should challenge both positions that (s)he disagrees with and ones that (s)he agrees with if students are to learn how to articulate what they think and have a chance at convincing others that what they think has merit. A program that fails to have teachers do that in ways appropriate for the class being taught\* is failing to deliver what the customers are paying for. \*If the subject is a freshman-level writing course debating economics is to be discouraged: stay focused on the process of presenting information clearly and convincingly, not on debating the politics of the information. ---
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-liberal-professor-and-my-liberal-students-terrify-me-their-sensitivity-and-paranoia/721907/19 "2015-06-08T04:02:11Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Who are you talking about? His initials are T.K. I’m too afraid for too many reasons to come straight-out and finger him as the guy … due to him being loved and adored by so many lost, fanatical crazies.:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-liberal-professor-and-my-liberal-students-terrify-me-their-sensitivity-and-paranoia/721907/20 "2015-06-08T04:09:38Z")
> [@Dibbs](#): > > His initials are T.K. I’m too afraid for too many reasons to come straight-out and finger him as the guy … due to him being loved and adored by so many lost, fanatical crazies.:rolleyes: Ted Koppel? Your sly insinuations and reluctance to come right out and say what you mean make you sound like a nutcase. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-liberal-professor-and-my-liberal-students-terrify-me-their-sensitivity-and-paranoia/721907.md?page=2)