Dispatches from Home – Good for President Obama!

Greetings!

Good for President Obama!

“It’s not just sometimes folks who are mad that colleges are too liberal that have a problem. Sometimes there are folks on college campuses who are liberal, and maybe even agree with me on a bunch of issues, who sometimes aren’t listening to the other side, and that’s a problem too.

I’ve heard of some college campuses where they don’t want to have a guest speaker who is too conservative, or they don’t want to read a book if it has language that is offensive to African-Americans, or somehow sends a demeaning signal towards women.

I gotta tell you, I don’t agree with that either. I don’t agree that when you become students at colleges, you have to be coddled and protected from different points of view. I think you should be able to — anybody who comes to speak to you and you disagree with, you should argue with ‘em. But you shouldn’t silence them by saying, ‘You can’t come because I’m too sensitive to hear what you have to say.’ That’s not the way we learn either.”

The US Today article went on to say, “President Obama is absolutely right. College isn’t supposed to be about having our prejudices reinforced. It’s supposed to be about learning how to think about ideas, and even to change one’s mind in the face of new arguments and evidence.

It’s also about learning to address ideas with which one doesn’t agree. As Aristotle said, “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” You can’t do that if you’re not willing even to hear unacceptable thoughts.”

I published this post on November 13, 2015. It would be interesting to see if President Obama still agrees with his statements. In light of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, the verulent discord on college campuses in this year, 2025, it would be nice for him to repeat his 2015 thoughts on what one should and should not be exposed to on college campuses. OR, I wonder if he’s changed his mind?