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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

opinion

COLUMN: Make IU Great Again

You win some, you lose some.

Republicans learned this lesson in 2008 and 2012 when President Obama was handed the reins of power. However, it has become apparent that the masses of coddled, participation trophy hoarders on campus have yet to comprehend this themselves.

Last Tuesday has led to what is perhaps the biggest public meltdown IU will ever experience. Classes were cancelled, safe spaces were established, tearful rallies occurred — this is not how functional adults deal with disappointment and defeat.

This is a disgrace. The last week has made it apparent IU is failing its students in the worst way possible. Faculty members are indulging students in the worst excesses of bourgeois liberalism to the point of self-parody.

This cry-bully culture has deeply infected our university. It reached its apex last Thursday when Vice Provost Lori Reesor, a public university employee, organized a unity rally for those traumatized by the thought of losing an election.It must be emphasized that this became an official University event when she organized it and used the school’s email list to advertise.

Student leaders, many from political clubs, were invited. Apparently, the College Republicans at IU do not fit this bill because they were not invited.

The University motto is “Lux et Veritas,” light and truth. Students are exposed to neither Lux nor Veritas when administrators create for them such a bubble, where the universe accommodates their ever-so-fragile mental state.

Perhaps if administrators had focused on creating an ideologically diverse culture, one where students’ assumptions and beliefs are rigorously debated, students would have a deeper understanding of differing viewpoints.

Instead of recoiling in fear and proclaiming those who voted for Trump are hateful, bigoted, racist, sexist, transphobic and more, they could trace the roots of this Buchanite conservatism and create their own solutions for addressing working class grievances.

This, by seeking to comprehend and debate, rather than fear and loathe, is how IU would react if it were faithful to its founding. Students are not the only ones being failed by IU right now.

Indiana takes money from hardworking Hoosiers and gives it to IU with the understanding that it will be used to develop the state’s workforce and create better citizens, but this is not happening.

Factories and offices did not shut down because Trump was elected. The economy does not stop so you can process events and get your emotions in line. Imagine if the electrical plant workers or police decided they were too traumatized to show up Nov. 9.

These actions by students and employees show the taxpayers’ money is being wasted. The legislature should seriously reconsider this arrangement until serious corrective action is taken by the University.

As it stands now, students are completely unprepared for the real world, and the University is actively worsening the situation. We must make IU great again.

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