According to the resolution, students would have the choice to “opt out” of exposure to traumatic content in class, “including but not limited to: sexual assault, domestic violence, self-harm, suicide, child abuse, racial hate crimes, transphobic violence, [and] homophobic harassment.” …

On April 3, Cornell University’s President Martha Pollack and Provost Michael I. Kotlikoff released a statement denying the implementation of the resolution, citing the university-wide commitment to “establish[ing] the right of students, researchers, and scholars to select a course of study and research without censure or undue interference.”

President Pollack and Provost Kotlikoff further elaborated on the reasoning behind their decision, stating that “[the resolution] would have a chilling effect on faculty, who would naturally fear censure.”

They continued, “Learning to engage with difficult and challenging ideas is a core part of a university education: essential to our students’ intellectual growth, and to their future ability to lead and thrive in a diverse society.”

[Maybe these students should leave higher education and enter the real world instead. — Ed]