From the Chronicle of Higher Ed:
Occidental College [http://www.oxy.edu/] faculty members are considering the creation of a
formal system to let students report them for microaggressions,
according to a document first obtained by the Reason Foundation, a libertarian advocacy group. The proposed microaggression-reporting system is part of a broader plan to respond to black-student unrest
at the California college, and is scheduled to be put before the
faculty at its December 1 meeting. The plan, drafted by the college’s
Faculty Council, includes among its other provisions calls for mandatory
diversity training for faculty members and a proposed requirement that
all academic departments incorporate “issues of cultural and racial
identity and diversity” into the curriculum. The plan says the creation of a microaggression-reporting system
would recognize “the power imbalance between faculty and students.” It
calls for the faculty to work with students and the college’s chief
diversity officer “to develop an effective mechanism for students to
address and report microaggressions or other conflicts between students
and faculty,” to begin next fall. Although faculty members at colleges elsewhere have been issuing
statements in support of black-student protests, the Occidental Faculty
Council’s embrace of student opposition to microaggressions appears
likely to put it at the forefront of a broader national debate
pitting advocates of racial sensitivity against advocates of free
speech. Among statements that colleges elsewhere have classified as
microaggressions — or subtle, and often unintentional, forms of
discrimination — are expressions of opinion that free-speech advocates
defend as protected by the First Amendment and the principle of academic
freedom. Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in
Education, a free-speech advocacy group, vowed in a written statement
issued on Monday to challenge the Occidental plan if it is adopted...
Full article at http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/occidental-faculty-weighs-system-for-reports-of-microaggressions/106939
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