Not necessarily, especially those who are aware of past presidential administrations here in the US where certain demographics didn’t necessarily “survive the president”.
One case in point is the Cherokee Indians and the “Trail of Tears” which was orchestrated and sanctioned by President Andrew Jackson. Some of them DIED on the trail. It’s a reason why some Native Americans to this day will prefer and request payment in denominations other than $20 bills because Jackson’s portrait is on it.
Another issue is this “take comfort, everything will be ok” advice being given regarding this election seems to be overwhelmingly given by folks who aren’t part of the marginalized demographic groups which will be most negatively impacted by the incoming administration’s espoused policies or track record of the incoming VP and named administration appointees.
Gee, it’s no surprise that fourth graders can get by with a little talk. College students, at least some, do care deeply because they are voting for the first time or campaigning for the first time or registering voters for the first time or staying up for the count for the first time or writing up the results for the school paper for the first time.
Years ago I took 2 middle schooler and a high schooler to the Holocaust Museum. After an hour, the high school student and I were feeling reflective, if not depressed, and ready to leave. The middle schools were joyfully engaged in all the interactive exhibits. They were processing things very differently. Some college students are more involved in the election in ways different than adults.
I don’t think I would ever give a big exam the day after an election as that would impact students unequally, rewarding drones over citizens. That said, even though I could have addressed the election through the content of my courses, I didn’t as I had other purposes.
I think that there is a lot of hysteria over this that is simply irrational. Perhaps rather than cancel exams and classes, on every campus one or more professors with an understanding of the law, the Constitution, US and world history, etc. could hold a Q&A that would help calm people down and partially assuage their fears. Our country has checks and balances that serve to prevent extreme behavior on the part of our leaders. While undocumented individuals have some legitimate concerns to be sure, there are young people my children know who are claiming things like “Now blacks are going to be sent back to pick cotton.” I think we all agree that is not going to happen.
One of D’s high-school teachers did, in fact, postpone a test from the day after election until today because so many kids were upset (this is a class of 9th-12th graders). There was a photo of another teacher putting up a sign declaring her room a “safe place” for kids to come talk about their feelings. So, while Yale may not have “special snowflakes,” it does appear there are some snowflakes fluttering about in other places.
Personally, I would hope that teachers (high school and college) would think twice about scheduling exams the day after notorious events where student participation is encouraged.
I have never understood the antipathy to “giving people a break” when it costs little to do so. Sure, many professions/jobs don’t get a break. But what harm is done by a professor delaying something if it can be made up in a reasonable way. I recall a situation in our church; we had two pastors and “surprise” they both wanted some time off during the summer (and the senior pastor had long taken 6 weeks). Earlier, we had only one pastor, and we filled vacation time with guest preachers. But now there were many who said we shouldn’t allow them both to take time during the summer (when the junior pastor had school age children-- she would have been the one who had to “compromise”) because members of the congregation were police officers or whatever, and “they never got to choose when to take vacation.” Well sure, but we are in a position to be generous; we are not running a hospital or fighting fires. I don’t get the need to be hard-a*** when you don’t have to.
The reason to hold a line is because people invariably push the boundaries too far. Let’s remember that this was not the first or only recent event that required classes to be cancelled due to allegedly distraught students.
If the prof and student don’t have an issue with it, why should the rest of you?! The college learning experience is more than what goes on in the classroom.
“The reason to hold a line is because people invariably push the boundaries too far”
Not only do you not need to take a hard-arse stance about it when you don’t have to, you also don’t need to go around looking at things from a worst case scenario and expecting the worst out of everyone instead of looking for the good/having a glass is half full mindset. Must be a tough way to live life.
Some of us are or will soon be parents working our arses off at work every day, regardless of elections, to pay their tuition and therefore expect professors to hold classes and our kids to attend them. Last year I heard some Brown parents complain that classes were being cancelled all the time, such as to allow kids to protest this and that, and the parents felt their kids weren’t getting the education they should have been. I can’t confirm whether it happened or not, but that was their feeling.
I have always been reluctant to deviate from my syllabus. My syllabus is almost like a contract between my students and me. Therefore, unless something really severe and unexpected, I want to honor the contract in terms of learning expectation, due days, and test days, etc.
Having said so, there is no such thing as a perfect contract. That is, there should be a degree of freedom for “renegotiating” or revising the contract for many legitimate reasons. For example, over my 16 years’ teaching career, I unilaterally renegotiated my contract with the “entire” class of students for only once: September 11, 2001. On that day, I made a decision and cancelled the meetings with my students. In terms of the recent election, I also made a decision and I did not cancel the meetings with my students.
Did I make the right calls for both instances? Who knows?
There is another type of contract renegotiation, but at the individual student level. Some students need special accommodation due to their illness, learning disabilities, family situations, legal status, military obligations. The university understands that not all these scenarios can be well regulated. As a result, professors are entrusted to exercise their judgement on whether special accommodation should be granted. Do we always know what is the best practice? Who knows?
I think this uncertainty, along with the resulting differential responses from different professors, resembles what is happening in “the real world.”
At least, our students learned that they sometimes got what they wanted/wished, and sometimes wouldn’t.
Feel free to not send your children to Brown or Yale. So many colleges to choose from. Send your kids to the ones that meet your expectations and mesh with how you wish to spend your dollars. That is always the best way we can exercise our preferences.
@twoinanddone
Was reading along, enjoying your post and then you got unnecessarily snarky with the “pulling the covers over their heads”…
Is it really necessary to sit so high on your pedestal while looking down? Are you there with these student? Know just how they spent the next day?
How do you know they weren’t discussing all of this and engaging each other in meaningful conversation?
I too tend to be a “suck it up, life goes on” kind of parent but I think the prof here was just trying to be mindful that some of his students might blow their exam if they had been up till 3 am watching this hot mess unfold. I don’t fault him for that.
And I went to my school the next day and spent most of the day tending to middle school students who had a range of emotions: anger, frustration, terrified, tears and depression. They are ESL students and rightly so felt threatened. I listened to their fears and tried to ease them. Not much was accomplished “academically” speaking. I’m sure many did not put forth their best effort on tests but maybe I should have told them to “get over it”…
The sensitive snowflakes are the people all over the country and on the internet who are wringing their hands because a professor somewhere showed compassion for some college kids. Get a grip, get a life, get a heart.
One aspect of this situation I find problematic is that the university and her representatives are implicitly shaming or insulting those students who voted for Trump and who do not consider the outcome to be anything resembling a “hot mess.” While professors and students are free to hold that opinion about the result, when the university acts like a free and democratic election likely won 306 to 232 in the electoral college is some terrible tragedy that requires at least a day off from school to recover from, they unfairly make Trump voters out to be the cause of their classmates’ supposed suffering. How is this “safe” or “inclusive” to a diverse student body that presumably holds a diversity of political views?
I’m finding it so bizarre that many people seem to have commented with a strong opinion against this professor’s policy without bothering to read the article.
This letter written by this professor did not say classes were cancelled. Or that he was going easy on anyone. It also did not say large numbers of kids stayed out of class. On the contrary, very few were not there. For all we know, the kids who skipped did so because they were hungover from celebrating. Geez.
