What I found “cringy” was the dripping-with-condescension prose.
We’re not talking future Ben Shapiros - he was a quite entertaining read in UCLA’s Daily Bruin.
But I agree, the issue has long been that those of us who are even moderately moderate find ourselves self-censoring, lest there be negative consequences. Some of us would prefer to be viewed as vapid - “complex sentence structure, shallow content” than engage in constant conflict.
Back in the day, I knew kids (yes, plural) who were expelled from BS due to outbursts that I suspect were fueled by the stress of being overtly conservative on a liberal campus. I believe most campuses now have sports facilities that include punching bags, so there are alternatives…
Day students can go home every day to a (potentially) safe haven. BS students are in a fish bowl.