A key point that I have seen elsewhere, regarding the student's complaint about the painting, is the narrow focus of the "adults" blindly abetting our culture of victimhood. In this specific incident the admin took the side of the victim/student with no thought to the situation. I don't often agree with CAIR, but, as Mr Mitchell pointe…
A key point that I have seen elsewhere, regarding the student's complaint about the painting, is the narrow focus of the "adults" blindly abetting our culture of victimhood. In this specific incident the admin took the side of the victim/student with no thought to the situation. I don't often agree with CAIR, but, as Mr Mitchell pointed out, context matters.
1) The painting was commissioned by a Muslim ruler making the case for Islamophobia very difficult to believe.
2) The admin decided that all of the trigger warnings were insufficient because 1 student ignored them and was thereby triggered.
3) Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, is not a monolithic religion: there are different sects with different interpretations of the Q'ran (as heretical as those others might be). Between the 2 dominant ones, Sunni and Shi'a - there is a split opinion on the depiction of the Prophet: the Sunni (I think) find these depictions sacrilegious entirely, the Shi'a don't (although they will usually blur the face out of respect).
4) The admin sided with a *single* student from the class because: victimhood.
5) It seems that the powers that be never spoke to the professor so it didn't have a clue as to why the painting was used, nor the history of the painting, nor, apparently, that even within Islam there are differences of opinion on these depictions.
Etc etc etc.
This kind of bovine scat will continue ad nauseum until these adults remind the students of who actually is in charge of the university. Sure, professors' salaries come from the tuition parents pay (yeah, right... parents), but they pay for their kids to get an education in something other than how to be a casualty of perceived slights or "attacks" on their core beliefs - which will likely change several times over the next several years of their lives as reality assaults them. Given the choice, I must believe that a vast majority of these parents would prefer that their children get the education paid for without the turmoil of the admin trying to micromanage to avoid the occasional student's hurt feelings.
These days, in financially strapped liberal arts colleges, the faculty are most definitely NOT in charge - even the tenured ones. The administrators lord it over the faculty, but they, in turn, pander to the demands of students. They have adopted the old business philosophy, "The customer is always right."
A key point that I have seen elsewhere, regarding the student's complaint about the painting, is the narrow focus of the "adults" blindly abetting our culture of victimhood. In this specific incident the admin took the side of the victim/student with no thought to the situation. I don't often agree with CAIR, but, as Mr Mitchell pointed out, context matters.
1) The painting was commissioned by a Muslim ruler making the case for Islamophobia very difficult to believe.
2) The admin decided that all of the trigger warnings were insufficient because 1 student ignored them and was thereby triggered.
3) Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, is not a monolithic religion: there are different sects with different interpretations of the Q'ran (as heretical as those others might be). Between the 2 dominant ones, Sunni and Shi'a - there is a split opinion on the depiction of the Prophet: the Sunni (I think) find these depictions sacrilegious entirely, the Shi'a don't (although they will usually blur the face out of respect).
4) The admin sided with a *single* student from the class because: victimhood.
5) It seems that the powers that be never spoke to the professor so it didn't have a clue as to why the painting was used, nor the history of the painting, nor, apparently, that even within Islam there are differences of opinion on these depictions.
Etc etc etc.
This kind of bovine scat will continue ad nauseum until these adults remind the students of who actually is in charge of the university. Sure, professors' salaries come from the tuition parents pay (yeah, right... parents), but they pay for their kids to get an education in something other than how to be a casualty of perceived slights or "attacks" on their core beliefs - which will likely change several times over the next several years of their lives as reality assaults them. Given the choice, I must believe that a vast majority of these parents would prefer that their children get the education paid for without the turmoil of the admin trying to micromanage to avoid the occasional student's hurt feelings.
These days, in financially strapped liberal arts colleges, the faculty are most definitely NOT in charge - even the tenured ones. The administrators lord it over the faculty, but they, in turn, pander to the demands of students. They have adopted the old business philosophy, "The customer is always right."