Students—Including Most Conservative Ones—Now Want Their Professors Censored | Opinion

The kids are not alright. A new poll from North Dakota State University reveals an incredibly intellectually intolerant attitude among today's college students. Researchers surveyed 2,250 undergrad students from 131 colleges across the country—and what they found is truly disturbing.

An astounding 74 percent of students say that if a professor says something students find offensive, they ought to be reported to the university. This attitude is particularly pervasive among liberal-leaning students, with 81 percent in agreement, but even 53 percent of conservative-leaning students bought into this notion.

The survey asked students about specific statements and whether they were "offensive" enough to warrant reporting to university higher-ups. The results confirm that we're not even talking about truly extreme ideas, but rather simply mainstream opinions.

A whopping 51 percent of liberal-leaning students thought a professor should be reported for making the argument that "If you look at the data, there is no evidence of anti-Black bias in police shootings." Meanwhile, 45 percent thought arguing that COVID-19 vaccine mandates are an infringement on freedom was a beyond-the-pale reportable offensive, and 37 percent thought the same about a professor who argued that Affirmative Action is counterproductive. (Of course, almost no students thought that expressing a variety of liberal opinions, like "a civilized society doesn't need guns," should get a professor reported.)

That's right: Many liberal students now think professors should be reported to university officials for expressing milquetoast center-right opinions. But in a bizarre twist, some even think stating "offensive" facts ought to get professors reported.

For example, 36 percent of liberal students thought the statement "Biological sex is a scientific fact. There are two sexes, male and female" should get a professor reported. Yet... this is simply a true statement. (Although it doesn't mention the extremely rare genetic exception where about 0.018 percent of people are "intersex," a fact that doesn't actually invalidate the sex binary as a general concept.)

It's an Orwellian suggestion indeed to say that stating facts is cause for reporting a professor to the university.

"What I found alarming was students' willingness to report professors for stating opinions or facts," survey author John Bitzan told The Hill. "This year's survey clarified that they aren't talking about hate speech or harassment. An astounding 65 percent are in favor of reporting professors for stating opinions or facts about affirmative action, police shootings, vaccines, guns, and gender."

Oh, and students aren't that much more receptive to controversial ideas or facts from their peers, either. A majority, 58 percent, said that if a student says something that others find offensive, they too ought to be reported to the university. Even 37 percent of conservative-leaning students agreed with this absurd suggestion.

The biggest problem with this intolerant philosophy is the obvious chilling effect it would have on debate. If saying something "offensive"—an entirely subjective and ever-changing perception—can get a professor or student reported to authorities, most will shy away from expressing any viewpoint that's remotely controversial. Yet no true learning about the complex topics explored on college campuses, from political science to biology, can actually occur without entertaining ideas that some find offensive. Students won't actually grow intellectually from simply being taught to regurgitate one stale perspective, but, in many cases, that's all that will be possible under this kind of chilling atmosphere.

The second glaring issue here is that this kind of coddling approach completely fails to prepare students for the real world. Newsflash: Many Americans oppose Affirmative Action, support gun rights, and/or oppose COVID-19 vaccine mandates. While all of these issues are certainly debatable, students must be prepared to encounter these kinds of ideas in the workplace or in their communities.

A college atmosphere that treats mainstream center-right opinions as HR violations sets students up for a rude awakening after graduation.

But more than anything, it sounds boring as hell.

Brad Polumbo (@Brad_Polumbo) is an independent journalist and co-founder of BASEDPolitics.

The views in this article are the writer's own.