The University of Arizona made the news, and it is a bit embarrassing. The reporting has focused on an internal document containing the recommended technique in a class discussion of having a student say “ouch” when his feelings are hurt by something a fellow student said. The fellow student is then to say “oops” as a confession of his sin.
Why not have the students use English instead of baby talk? If you want the students to blurt out, “That offends me,” or in the parlance of our time, “That pisses me off,” then they should do so. May I remind everyone that when these students leave college they will be entering the world?
The document in which this tidbit is found is a product of the Office of Diversity and Inclusive Excellence at the University of Arizona. It is titled “Diversity and Inclusiveness in the Classroom.” I found what could be construed as a statement of purpose on Page 3:
“This document is intended to be a resource for addressing difficult or challenging topics in the classroom. No faculty is required to utilize the guidelines. It is merely suggestions for faculty who want to engender the broadest possible perspectives, opinions, and experiences and to maximize free speech in the classroom.”
I do not understand it either, but after reading the entire document it appears to me that it deals with helping diverse students who may feel out of place or experience hurt feelings.
Who are “diverse” students? The document provides a list of examples:
“Black/African Americans, Latinx/Chicanx/Hispanic, Asian American/Pacific Islanders, Natives Americans, LGBTQIA+ folks, international students and employees, people with diverse religious affiliations, veterans, non-traditional students, women, first-generation college students, and people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.”
I think that there are probably only a handful of students who do not represent one or more of those examples. I actually represent two! I never knew I was diverse.
Many of the techniques cited in the document seem more like New Age group therapy classes. They include: modeling, storytelling, metaphors, collages, and “fishbowl discussions.” Do college students really need to be handled like emotionally disturbed juveniles?
Of course, the pronoun issue is addressed. Like many other universities, the University of Arizona supports the trendy choose-your-own-pronoun policy. A form of this was enacted at no less than the University of Michigan, where students were instructed to register their preferred pronoun. Grant Strobl, a student at Michigan, chose “His Majesty.” Way to go, Grant! The thing about pronouns is that they are not part of your name. Your name is yours and it can be whatever you want. The language, on the other hand, is shared with shared word meanings, so the gratuitous changing of definitions is unacceptable. “They” cannot refer to an individual. It is a plural.
To discover why students are not being prepared for adulthood, one need only look at who benefits. Statists love great masses of weak, fearful people who turn to them for safety and help. Free people love peers with whom they can work, create and help others.
The goals of validation, inclusivity, common courtesy and respect to all are laudable goals, but you do not get there by focusing on differences. You get there by focusing on what students have in common and treating everyone equally. Focus on everyone accepting the mantle of college student and working together on the mission of learning. If I may borrow a campaign slogan, they will be “Stronger Together.”
