In response to what bearing free speech might have on this debate, Pepperdine Law Professor and First Amendment expert Barry McDonald said the First Amendment only applies to government actors, which includes public universities. “Safe spaces” on the other hand, refer to “an expression of the conviction, increasingly prevalent among college students, that their schools should keep them from being ‘bombarded’ by discomforting or distressing viewpoints,” according to Judith Shulevitz’s article, “In College and Hiding from Scary Ideas,” published by The New York Times on March, 21, 2015. The retreat’s theme, “Sticks and Stones: Language and Speech in a Diverse Society,” discussed issues relating to trigger warnings and online speech in relation to topics like ethnicity and sexual orientation. The issue of trigger warnings and safe spaces was discussed at Pepperdine’s Posse Plus Retreat earlier this year. Trigger warnings, which are defined as “written warnings to alert students in advance that material assigned in a course might be upsetting or offensive,” according to the National Coalition Against Censorship, have been criticized by an array of students and faculty as problematic to free speech and diverse discourse on college campuses, according to the National Coalition Against Censorship. “Our commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so-called trigger warnings, we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial and we do not condone the creation of intellectual ‘safe spaces’ where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own,” wrote Ellison in the letter. In the letter, the Dean of Students John Ellison wrote that trigger warnings and safe spaces impede upon intellectual discourse and academic freedom. The letter has since sparked debate over political correctness, First Amendment rights and the limits of freedom of speech on college campuses across the United States. A recent letter from the University of Chicago to the incoming class of 2020 went viral after it denounced “safe spaces” and “trigger warnings” in higher education in August 2016.
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