University of Chicago’s Ban on Safe Spaces is “Insensitive,” says Evergreen State College President

Evergreen State College President George Bridges penned an op-ed as a rebuttal to a University of Chicago dean John Ellison over the use of safe spaces:

“The University of Chicago’s letter to incoming freshmen was a sign of insensitivity to the needs of students,” he began his op-ed in The Seattle Times, saying UC’s letter “wasn’t welcoming,” adding that “the message, conveyed in a letter from the dean of students, revealed a profound indifference to concerns that many students now bring to colleges and universities.”

Bridges went on to call Ellison’s letter “tone deaf to the academic and developmental needs of many students,” arguing that “trigger warnings can alert students to genuinely distressing content that could otherwise cripple their learning.”

He then concludes by describing safe spaces as necessary to the success of students, arguing that colleges “must” create more of them.

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