UConn Offers Counseling for Students Upset at ‘Even the Thought of’ a Ben Shapiro Speech

[timosman]

UConn Offers Counseling for Students Upset at ‘Even the Thought of’ a Ben Shapiro Speech

http://www.nationalreview.com/artic...ersity-connecticut-offers-counseling-students

by KATHERINE TIMPF January 24, 2018

This time, it was the school spearheading the snowflakery.

Upon learning that conservative speaker Ben Shapiro had been invited to campus, the University of Connecticut immediately offered its student body counseling services.

“We understand that even the thought of an individual coming to campus with the views that Mr. Shapiro expresses can be concerning and even hurtful and that’s why we wanted to make you aware as soon as we were informed,” stated a campus-wide email from associate vice president and chief diversity officer Joelle Murchison, according to an article in Shapiro’s Daily Wire.

According to the email, there hasn’t even been a “date, location or time” confirmed for the speech — but apparently the school still believed that it was necessary to start offering time for counseling now.

I like to think of myself as a sensitive person, but this is something that I simply cannot wrap my head around. There are a ton of people I can’t stand who are out there giving speeches every single day, and yet “the thought” of that has had absolutely zero impact on my mental health. It’s not “hurtful.” It doesn’t affect me. I have a life. I think it’s fine.

What’s interesting to me about this particular story is that it wasn’t even a group of students who ran to ring that “triggered” bell. (Although I’m sure that would have happened eventually.) This time, it was the school sending out a preemptive email, basically telling students that they should be upset. Talk of oversensitivity on college campuses is so often centered on the students-are-snowflakes narrative that people don’t realize how often it’s the school itself that’s prompting these sorts of things.

This is, after all, far from the first time that a school’s officials have been the ones spearheading some of the most insane snowflakery on their campuses. In July, it was Evergreen State College officials telling professors to take students’ feelings into account when grading. In May, the University of Arizona hired students to tattle on their peers for microaggressions. It was Clemson University’s diversity training — not a student op-ed — that said that expecting people to be on time is culturally insensitive. The list goes on and on.

As the Daily Wire notes, this isn’t the first school to offer counseling to students on account of Shapiro’s speaking on campus; the University of California, Berkeley, did the same thing last fall. What’s more, in the spring of 2016, students at California State University, Los Angeles, set up a “healing” space to deal with the trauma of having Shapiro speak — even though the speech had occurred three months prior, and most of them hadn’t even gone to the speech.

 

[Danke]

Just shoot me.

 

[timosman]

Happy New Year and Welcome Back for the Spring Semester!

I hope you all had an opportunity to spend quality time with family and friends during the break and you are ready to hit the ground running to make the spring semester your best yet!

I wanted to make you aware of a situation we have recently learned about. There has been a request received for Ben Shapiro to come to campus as the guest of the College Republicans. Ben Shapiro is an American conservative political commentator, columnist, author, radio talk show host, and lawyer. There has been no confirmed date, location or time at this point and the University will be following the new event procedures as outlined in early December, which includes holding an event review which a member of the ODI team will be a part of. We understand that even the thought of an individual coming to campus with the views that Mr. Shapiro expresses can be concerning and even hurtful and that’s why we wanted to make you aware as soon as we were informed.

In the meantime, please utilize the many campus resources available to you should you want to talk through your feelings about this issue, including my office, the Cultural Centers, the Dean of Students Office, and CMHS, if necessary.

While the event is not finalized (some external reports have indicated Jan 24 in Laurel Hall though that is not confirmed), we will be sure to keep you up to date as we learn additional information, particularly after the event review is held.

Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected] or 8604862422.

Wishing you a productive semester,

Joelle Murchison

Associate Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer