Safe spaces have taken hold at college campuses across the country to denote places where individuals or groups of people can be confident they will not be discriminated against, criticized, harassed or exposed to any other type of emotional or physical harm.
Though noble in goal, the problem with the designation is that by creating a safe space, it assumes all other campus spaces are un-safe. It also dramatically shields students from the real world and how to participate in a free exchange of ideas among people with whom they may disagree.
It is particularly troubling that colleges and universities across the country are adopting and advocating for these practices, including Fort Lewis College.
Monday’s incident on campus between an Ohio man preaching from the Bible and a student stands out mostly for how the defense of the student’s actions (allegedly pouring coffee on the man’s bible) could be used against the student’s own rights to freedom of speech and assembly.
Tuesday, students held a “Safe Spaces” rally on campus in response to Monday’s incident. One of the rally organizers who took exception to the man targeting gays and lesbians said, “Most of what we’re trying to do ... is to create an area where people feel loved and welcomed. We just weren’t OK with the event that happened with that preacher.”
This is a remarkable double-standard (the same man was punched at his first visit to FLC in 2012) and a slippery slope. Another group could as easily say they are not comfortable with the Safe Space rally. After all, the first amendment guarantees that speech that may be distasteful is still free speech.
FLC’s response was appropriate: “Becoming an engaged citizen means learning to deal with those who disagree with us, even those whose rhetoric we find disturbing or extreme,” said FLC spokesman Mitch Davis.
Anything less discourages students from engaging with the uncomfortable or unfamiliar and does them and academia a great disservice. It leaves students unprepared for real life “...and to work in and contribute to a complex world.” That is, officially, part of FLC’s mission.
