Forget the College Academic Rank Index, let's create the Snowflake Index

College Life
21

I agree. That’s why I didn’t think that generalization was fair.

22

@CAMidwestMom there is no “All Lives Matter” activist group. They do not protest, organize, discuss, or even act outside of social media. The phrase was literally created to delegitimize the Black Lives Matter movement, and actually criticize the BLM people for being racist. In-Context the phrase was literally started as a way to go against BLM (blue lives matter does the exact same thing). Do all lives matter? Yes. Do blue lives matter? Yes. Do black lives matter? Yes. But there is no reason to destroy a legitimate movement by trying to say it only singles out one group. Whether you agree or disagree, it doesn’t change the fact that this was the intent of #AllLivesMatter

23

I apologize. I had no idea the all lives matter thing was destroying the other movement. I live near the epicenter of the black lives matter movement and my impression is that it was a strong movement with lots of support. My point - which I seem not to be able to get across - is that you cannot presume that when someone uses the ALM phrase they are doing it to diminish the other phrase. I still think that is true and I will admit I do not personally know the originators of the ALM tag, so I do not know their intentions.

24

@OspreyCV22 reminded me that a list is actually overdue. I filled out what I think belong at the extremes and have plenty of room in the middle. I will give a ranking first and explain my rationale at the end. Feel free to debate or add more suggestions.

The colleges with the most snowflakes in students, faculty, or administration are:

100.0: University of California.
99.0: University of Missouri-Columbia
98.0: Amherst
97.0: Claremont-McKenna
96.0: Yale
95.0: Smith
94.0: Haverford
93.0: Brown
92.0: Tufts

And here are the colleges with the fewest snowflakes:

4.0: University of Pennsylvania
3.0: William & Mary

2.0 University of Virginia
1.0: University of New Hampshire
0.0: Cargnegie Mellon

Rationale:

Rationales for colleges are listed in alphabetical order. I want to give credit to theFire.org for highlighting examples of colleges that support freedom of expression.

  • Amherst: Student group demands a revision of the honor code to reflect a zero-tolerance policy for racial insensitivity and hate speech. Apparently these students haven't heard of the 1st amendment.
  • Brown: A proposed debate on sexual assualt alarmed some students that one of the speakers would offend rape survivors.
  • Carnegie Mellon: Has a freedom of expression policy that says: The university must be a place where all ideas may be expressed freely and where no alternative is withheld from consideration. The only limits on these freedoms are those dictated by law and those necessary to protect the rights of other members of the University community and to ensure the normal functioning of the University.
  • Claremont-McKenna: A poorly worded email by the Dean of Students about how to help students that don't fit CMC's mold ignited protests, including two hunger strikes. The dean resigned on November 13th.
  • College of William & Mary: Policy says: The members of the College community, as individuals, shall enjoy all rights, privileges, and immunities guaranteed every citizen of the United States and the commonwealth of Virginia. Among the basic rights are freedom of expression and belief, freedom of association and peaceful assembly, and freedom from personal force and violence, threats of violence and personal abuse.
  • Haverford: Students protested a planned commencement speech by Robert Birgeneau, a former UC-Berkeley chancellor, because UC police used batons to break up an Occupy protest.
  • Smith: Student protests caused Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF, to withdraw from a commencement speech, over concerns that the IMF's policies have not helped poor countries as much as hoped.
  • Tufts University: The Sexual Misconduct Policy contains a trigger warning that reading the policy may be disturbing to some students.
  • University of California: UC is big on defining micro-aggressions, and all of the following qualify:
    • "Affirmative action is racist."
    • "I believe the most qualified person should get the job."
    • "Everyone can succeed in this society, if they work hard enough."
  • University of Missouri: Racism is a real problem at some schools, and addressing this issue is very important. But Missouri became a contender in the Snowflake Index when protesters in a tent city were unwilling to be photographed or interviewed. Instead, a faculty member wanted "some muscle" to prevent a student photographer from doing his job.
  • University of New Hampshire: UNH has an unambiguous policy on free speech. Read it here for a breath of fresh air: http://unh.edu/unhtoday/statement-unh-president-mark-huddleston-bias-free-language-guide
  • University of Pennsylvania: UPenn's conduct code states: "The University of Pennsylvania is a community in which intellectual growth, learning from others, mutual tolerance, and respect for freedom of thought and expression are principles of paramount importance"
  • University of Virginia: Students Rights & Responsibilities document says: The University of Virginia is a community of scholars in which the ideals of freedom of inquiry, freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and freedom of the individual are sustained. The University is committed to supporting the exercise of any right guaranteed to individuals by the Constitution and the Code of Virginia and to educating students relative to their responsibilities.
  • Yale: After an email from the Dean about appropriate Halloween outfits, a professor responded that perhaps the students were adult enough to make their own decisions. Some students freaked out and demanded her and her husbands resignation. Since then, Yale has improved its free speech policy.
25

@hebegebe the First Amendment is very often misquoted/misinterpreted. It was created to prevent the government from creating laws that infringe on free speech/expression/etc. It doesn’t necessarily apply to private institutions. Yes, free speech is important, but the First Amendment can’t be used to justify the allowance of hate speech in private schools.

26

Add Minnesota,://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/11/15/u-minnesota-student-government-rejects-annual-recognition-of-911-citing-in-part-potential-perpetuation

@TheAtlantic @OHMomof2 The Black Lives Matter group would be a lot more legitimate if it would direct its efforts or at least acknowledge the inconvenient truth that other black Americans pose a far greater risk than the police. If this was actually discussed, the movement would have my support. Unfortunately, the activities are largely intended to harass whites, and Ben Carson.

27

Wow. Just wow. ^

28

Ben Carson is harassed by BLM activists? I thought it was sort of the opposite.

29

@OHMomof2 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3321190/F-filthy-white-s-Black-Lives-Matter-protesters-scream-epithets-white-students-studying-Dartmouth-library.html

Is this a legitimate form of demonstration?

30

Wait, Ben Carson was at the Dartmouth protest?

31

All Lives Matter at Amhurst is a pro-life group. How does a pro-life group take the focus away from BLM?

32

I’m kind of in favor of reversing all the rules for a year, making it mandatory to offend people. Everyone can get it out of their system and grow a thick skin. Those that can’t take it? Natural selection at work.

33

Silly me. I think " All Lives Matter" means all lives matter not in the sense of depriving right to choice. I feel the BLM movement is racist in excluding White, Asian and Hispanic people. I’m just going to sit back and watch a couple of you go apoplectic when I also say #BlueLIvesMatter since it doesn’t count if there’s no hashtag.

34

You could read what the Amherst community thought about it at the time: http://amherststudent.amherst.edu/?q=search/node/all%20lives%20matter

…or you could simply recognize the significance of the name the group chose and the timing of the poster campaign. Or that the anonymous group apparently took down Black Lives Matter posters and replaced them with their All Lives Matter ones.

35

I have an idea, and this forum would be a great place to disprove it.
My idea is "Most or all of the people who label folks as ‘snowflakes’ or ‘over sensitive’ or ‘crybabies’ are folks who enjoy a majority or dominate status’.

White middle-class, middle-age men such as myself seem to be the predominate group who express this sentiment.
Any thoughts?

36

Oh my gosh you people are so annoying. So many people on this website are always complaining about how “political correctness is taking over the country.” I don’t see it. Don’t you realize that all these stories of people getting offended are always blown up by the media to get people like you guys to complain about it? In the parents forum all you guys do is post stories about isolated incidents in which a few people got offended about things and circlejerk about how stupid and liberal you think college students are these days.

@Zinhead All Lives Matter is a pro-life group? Oh please.

@ElMimino That makes sense. I’m a black, female high-schooler so it makes sense that I don’t see what everyone is complaining about.

37

Or you could read what the “All Lives Matter” people posted on Facebook. No safe space for these Amhurst students.

38

Maybe it’s them maybe it isn’t. Maybe they are saying what you want to hear. They’re still anonymous, no?

39

Well, that excludes me, the original poster.

Also, you should expect a majority of comments from people who are white, both for and against.

40

@OspreyCV22 if you want to continue being incorrect, that’s 100% your choice. It’s not racist to say that black people as a group are dealing with discrimination and it should be acknowledged. Just as it’s not sexist for feminist groups to not advocate for some policies men need. And it’s not discriminatory for a breast cancer awareness walk to not also raise money for lung cancer…