The University argues that they believe in rigorous debate and that Ideas should be challenged. They say that this does not mean that the support harassment. All discussions need to be conducted with civility and respect.
Now many students believe that this is a move meant to crush academic freedom and not support it. They believe that safe spaces and trigger warnings are needed to create a space where everyone can learn and flourish.
I do get why trigger warnings began. The idea is that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) effect many people on campus and can make it difficult for people to learn. For example if a rape survivor reads about a woman getting severely beaten it could trigger her and she could relive the attack. So many schools started issuing these trigger warnings. They problem is that many people starting saying they were triggered by the most random things and it became difficult for many universities professors to come up with a curriculum that their class could use. What was intended as a policy to help a few people who were severely traumatized, became a crouch that just made students weaker and stunted learning of the general student populace in general.
Safe spaces also had a noble start. Many gay and lesbians were victims of abuse and harassment. Safe spaces were created to help them be freed from this awful treatment. But like trigger warnings they have had dire consequences of the university. Soon feminist also required safe spaces and anyone in a safe space was not allowed to argue a point that those in the safe space disagreed with. This allows students to slip away from differing points of view which is very dangerous for the idea of free thought. I always learn the most about myself and my beliefs when I find a very intelligent person that believes the opposite of what I do.
We have also changed the meaning of harassment. Listen if someone gets in the face of a gay guy and screams at him that you are evil and you are going to hell. I think that is harassment. If some one simply states that he believes that gay marriage should not be mandated by the federal government because it is a states rights issue and each state should have the right to decide what they will do on their own, and they say it in a nice way. That is not harassment. That is simply a different opinion. You can think that opinion is wrong or ridiculous and try to prove it wrong to your hearts content. That is what you are suppose to do. That is intellectual freedom.
Its easy just to label some one a hater or a bigot. Then we don't have to deal with there arguments. But that is intellectually lazy and will just be to our own determent. To many university students are losing there ability to reason and debate because they are being coddled by these policies.
University of Chicago has stepped up and addressed this issue head on. They are doing their best to ensure that all of their students are exposed to a rigorous and free exchange of ideas and to that I say good job!
If you disagree with me let me know.