There was a video made a couple of years back, a parody of students in the future who are offended by everything.
It wasn’t funny. It was more like a documentary.
I’ve read this story twice, wondering if I somehow missed the offense. I still don’t know what it was.
Columbia put me through ‘re-education’ for telling a joke
Now I’ve graduated from Columbia University, I am finally ready to reveal a dark and shameful secret I have kept buried for almost two years: I am the living manifestation of the evil white male cis patriarchy. I, Ben Sweetwood, committed “gender misconduct” while a student at the above mentioned institution of higher learning.
I was in Chinese class in the Fall of 2014. I was a bit of a jokester in class, though also a good student, so it’s not like I didn’t make contributions to the class. Often we had to use new vocabulary or sentence structures to make up our own sentences.
The next day during class, my teacher asked me to stay after class. I obliged, and I certainly felt it was not for her to tell me how brilliant I am. The teacher sat next to me on a bench outside the classroom and told me that I made a comment in class that upset someone. Consequently, I had been reported to the Gender-Based Misconduct Office.
She mentioned I had called myself handsome and alluded to my joking personality in general. She also told me she was not offended at all. She said she thought it was funny, but that she didn’t want to get in trouble herself. She told me if I want to make those jokes, I should come to her office hours to do so. I assumed it’s because my sick mind needed to be contained in a space where other students were not at risk of harm. I felt bad for the teacher as she seemed to be in a tough situation, where she had no choice but to scold me.
Later that day, my advising dean emailed me to say, “The University’s Gender-Based Misconduct Office contacted us because they received a complaint about your behavior towards your Elementary Chinese II professor. It is important we meet to discuss this as soon as possible.” I responded in a defiant tone, denying any wrongdoing, though I agreed to meet the next day.
“The University’s Gender-Based Misconduct Office contacted us because they received a complaint about your behavior towards your Elementary Chinese II professor. It is important we meet to discuss this as soon as possible.”
I met with my dean the next afternoon. She told me the same thing my professor had: I had called myself handsome and this was unacceptable. My dean tried to make me agree that I would never do this again. I flat out refused. I laid into her about how upset I was about the situation and I said something along the lines of: “If you’re asking me to not be myself, then I guarantee I will end up back in your office again.”
We are doing the wrong thing and going after the wrong people in the name of fairness and justice, I told her. By the end of our conversation, she told me: “Even if I agree with you, I obviously couldn’t say anything…” I had the impression that she was too scared to challenge Columbia’s extreme politically correct culture.
I was then put in touch with a case manager from the Gender-Based Misconduct office, who set up a “re-education” meeting in his office for the following Monday. I remember this frightening little office was located outside of Columbia’s west gates, where no one can hear you scream (it may have moved since then).
I walked into the office, and as you might have guessed it
Must be a relative of Hugh Mongus. 🙂
What a monumental waste-I wouldn’t even consider college these days much less an Ivory league school.
Why doesn’t anyone have the presence of mind to declare, loudly, that telling me I’ve upset someone —- wait for it, UPSETS ME!!! Immediately REPORT that person, be it teacher, principal, fellow student, queer fag, mentally deranged transgender, … ANYONE who says I’ve upset someone, and that I’ve been reported, has UPSET ME! And I will not only report that person, but will LOUDLY and CONTINUALLY DEMAND the the person who upset me be punished, banished, and SILENCED.
Isn’t that the way they’ve set the game? Ok, let’s play.
I would tell the teacher to fuck off I’m paying your salary.
The only offense I can see is that he called himself handsome (if that’s truly his pic).
Can we hang them yet?
Exactly, ED.
If that dude thinks he’s handsome, he needs to get a refund on those glasses.
Now I, OTOH, am drop-dead handsome.
At least…that’s what my mother told me.
Sehen mit diesen sonnebrille, dunkle-Schwartze sonnebrille; Lazlo sind sehr, sehr gut und Wenn jemand so gut aussieht ist er sicherlich ein Herzensbrecher.
The proper thing to do now if you’re a white male (Christian most likely) is the moment a person in authority tells you a complaint has been raised about an action or statement is to tell them to stop immediately and allow you to call for your lawyer and that no other meetings will take place without your lawyer present. Then tell them to make sure they have the complainant available for questioning by your legal representation. Then get up and leave and see how fast you can find a cheap lawyer and someone from the Channel whatever NewsTeam. That ought to scare the crap out of them.
I like Lazlo’s comment… it made as much sense to me as the article from The Tab did. Ich danke Ihnen
I speak the Peggy Hill equivalent of El Deutch
“..the human toll of “triggered” culture is a serious matter. I cannot help but feel for those who are deeply embedded in it, or rely on it for food and shelter.”
Nails the problem right there, then goes on blithely, as if it’s too big a hurdle to deal with effectively, like re-educate them. He’s only there for the degree, though.
Asshole trigger-industry minions count on that, you know.
OMG!! He said “malevolence”!! That’s just one letter removed from “male violence”!! I need a safe space!! s/
He made a joke about himself, and someone took offense? Because that’s what it is–people don’t give (or cause) offense, some people just take it as if it gives them some moral high ground. Just because you can’t be adult enough to control your emotions doesn’t mean I have to cater to your stupidity. And yet people lose careers and standing over this kind of bullshit.
I hope the schools that do cater to this stupidity lose massive amounts of student enrollment and alumni donations.