The Righteous Mind
  • About The Author
    • Bio
    • Interviews & Lectures
    • Essays I’ve Written
    • Upcoming Talks
  • About the Book
    • Reviews
    • Endorsements
    • Introductory Chapter
    • Discussions of the Book
    • Figures/Notes/Refs
  • Buy The Book
  • Applying Moral Psych
    • Capitalism and Morality
    • Business Ethics
    • Viewpoint Diversity in the Academy
    • Coddling of the American Mind
    • For Teachers & Book Clubs
    • To Politics and Civility
    • In Business
    • In Religious Communities
    • In Therapy and Coaching
    • How You Can Help
  • Videos
  • Blog
Home » Civility » Obama speaks out against coddling campuses
Sep15 1

Obama speaks out against coddling campuses

Posted by Jonathan Haidt in Civility, Politics, Social trends

President Obama spoke out forcefully yesterday on the purpose of college and the perils of the new political correctness. (See coverage at Vox.) At a forum on college access and affordability, in Des Moines, Iowa, a high school student asked him about Ben Carson’s proposal that government cut funding for “politically biased colleges.” This gave the President an opportunity to talk about recent trends on college campuses, and how intellectual and political diversity in his own college days broadened his mind and changed some of his assumptions.  Here’s the key section on trigger warnings, safe spaces, and “coddling:”

It’s not just sometimes folks who are mad that colleges are too liberal that have a problem. Sometimes there are folks on college campuses who are liberal, and maybe even agree with me on a bunch of issues, who sometimes aren’t listening to the other side, and that’s a problem too. I’ve heard some college campuses where they don’t want to have a guest speaker who is too conservative or they don’t want to read a book if it has language that is offensive to African-Americans or somehow sends a demeaning signal towards women. I gotta tell you, I don’t agree with that either. I don’t agree that you, when you become students at colleges, have to be coddled and protected from different points of view. I think you should be able to — anybody who comes to speak to you and you disagree with, you should have an argument with ‘em. But you shouldn’t silence them by saying, “You can’t come because I’m too sensitive to hear what you have to say.” That’s not the way we learn either.

His whole response is a beautiful statement on the value of a liberal arts education — including exposure to political diversity — for creating thoughtful and open-minded citizens.

You can watch the whole interaction here. Drag the slider to 1:22:32

One Comment

  1. Jim | November 26, 2015 at 12:04 pm

    If our colleges are left of Obama on this, are they still on the same planet?

    Reply

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 

Recent Posts

  • Why The Righteous Mind may be the best common reading for incoming college students
  • How not to improve the moral ecology of campus
  • How the Democrats Can Use Moral Foundations Theory Against Trump
  • The politics of disgust animated for the age of Trump
  • Where political identities come from, in one cartoon

Archives

  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • March 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • July 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012

Subscribe

  • Entries RSS

© 2018 The Righteous Mind

© 2011 The Righteous Mind | Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress