Safe-Space Antagonist

It was the tone of the letter that caught people’s attention. Like a father lecturing his rambunctious children at the dinner table, John (Jay) Ellison, 55, dean of students at the University of Chicago, warned incoming freshmen that he wasn’t about to put up with any nonsense.

“Our commitment to academic freedom,” he wrote in a welcome letter this summer, “means that we do not support so-called ‘trigger warnings,’ we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual ‘safe spaces,’ where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own.”

While that sentence was only part of a longer letter, Mr. Ellison’s curt rejection of a growing phenomenon on college campuses went viral, putting the University of Chicago at the forefront of a national debate over political correctness, the perceived coddling of college students, and the limits of free speech.

The like-minded rejoiced that Chicago, long seen as a champion of free expression, had dumped hypersensitivity into the bin of Bad Liberal Ideas. College students, they feared, had gotten so caught up in identity politics that they were refusing to engage with people outside of their small spheres. They considered Mr. Ellison the perfect messenger. The Chicago Tribune’s editorial board called his letter “refreshingly direct.”

But others found it insulting and misinformed. Safe spaces and trigger warnings aren’t a retreat from tough intellectual discourse, they said, but a sign that all perspectives are respected. To them Mr. Ellison’s words were an example of the arrogance with which those in power marginalize the concerns of those different from themselves. “Oftentimes,” said one student, Elizabeth Adetiba, “the people who are defining free speech are people of a certain demographic": well off, white, and male.

As the academic year began, leaders of other colleges, including Yale and Bowdoin, also challenged their new students to engage with uncomfortable ideas. And Mr. Ellison’s critique led to a deeper examination of how safe spaces and trigger warnings are actually used. (As it turns out, you can find both at Chicago.)

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Mr. Ellison never expected his letter to get so much attention but says he was pleased by the conversations it sparked. What his champions and critics alike are wrestling with is how college campuses should function in an increasingly diverse — and divided — America. The coming together of students of different races, religions, ideologies, economic classes, and sexual identities has fueled complicated movements.

Minority students are asking for their own spaces on campus. But is that a celebration of multiculturalism or the promotion of segregation? Some students want to ban hyperpartisan speakers. Are they shutting down debate or rejecting hate speech? And if a victim of sexual assault is surprised by a discussion of violence in class, is it her responsibility to shoulder her feelings, or should her professor have better prepared her?

There are no easy answers, of course, and tensions are likely to increase in 2017. The presidential election has hardened viewpoints and fostered even more polarizing speech. Social media seems to magnify every conflict. And inflammatory websites promote anger, fear, and misinformation.

College, Mr. Ellison wrote in an email to The Chronicle reflecting on the public reaction to his letter, should be a place where people develop the ability to bridge such divides. “It is important to openly discuss the challenges that come with being a part of an academic community where diverse perspectives, experiences, individuals, and ideas inform and stimulate intellectual exchange, challenge, and engagement,” he wrote. “We all struggle with these issues, including the faculty, students, and staff at the University of Chicago, and it’s worth remembering that freedom of expression entails a willingness to listen to others.”

Beth McMurtrie writes about campus culture, among other things. Follow her on Twitter @bethmcmurtrie, or email her at beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com.