Professor Has Simple Answer to Screechy Student Demanding Delay in Exams Due to Heart-Ache Over Ferguson

A professor at Oberlin -- Lena Dunham's old stomping grounds -- of all places.

You can read the letter at Reason, or in this link.

When I read this, I thought what I'm about to quote below was a joke.

It's not. It's real. This really happened:

After receiving his professor;s response, the student posted the exchange publicly to Facebook, with the message: "TRIGGER WARNING: Violent language regarding an extremely dismissive response from a professor. This is an email exchange I had with my professor this evening. ... We are obviously not preaching to the choir. Professors and administration at Oberlin need to be held accountable for their words and actions and have a responsibility to their students."

More: An op-ed from a Harvard Law student, explaining that his classmates aren't whiny and entitled. Just really really serious about Justice.

Delaying Exams Is Not a Request from 'Coddled Millennials'

...

Drawing comparisons to events surrounding the Civil Rights Movement and other times of intense turmoil, these opponents portray today's law students as coddled millennials using traumatic events as an excuse for their inability to focus on a three-hour exam. In essence, law students are being told to grow up and learn how to focus amidst stress and anxiety -- like "real" lawyers must do.

Speaking as one of those law students, I can say that this response is misguided: Our request for exam extensions is not being made from a position of weakness, but rather from one of strength and critical awareness. . . .

Where some commentators see weakness or sensitivity, perhaps they should instead see strength--the strength to know when our cups of endurance have run over and when the time for patience has ended. Perhaps they should instead see courage--the courage to look our peers in the eyes and uncomfortably ask them to bear these burdens of racism and classism that we have together inherited from generations past. We have taken many exams before, but never have we done this. We are scared, but no longer will we be spectators to injustice. . . .

No, I see it as more excuse-making for the generation which does very little except make excuses as to why they can't handle the most basic aspects of their jobs.

posted by Ace at 02:57 PM

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