
Last week, we told you about students at Georgetown Univeristy and Oberlin College demanding that on-campus appearances by Christina Hoff Sommers be given "Trigger Warnings" because FEEEEELINGS and other such nonsense. Well, both speaking events have come and gone – so let's see how things went.
Sommers made her appearance at Georgetown available to view on YouTube yesterday, which I watched when it was posted. Yes, it's long – a little over an hour. Her prepared speech takes up about 35 minutes of the video with the rest being devoted to a Q&A with the audience. I have to say, as much as a stink as these students made about Sommers appearing on campus, the questions people asked were well-thought out (for the most part) and the dialogue was civil and spirited, even if the students disagreed with Sommers. Here's the full video of that speaking engagement (filmed from an iPhone, according to Sommers's Twitter feed) –
The appearance that's making headlines today, however, is Sommers at Oberlin College, which a writer for Third Base Politics live-blogged last night.
Oh. My. Giddy. Aunt. Well, just look (some of these have bad language) –

This one has a trigger warning for poor spelling –



And, of course, the always classy seventh-grade retort –

Ahhhh – THAT'S the civil dialogue that liberals so often preach and crave.
From there, the Oberlin audience took part in the oh-so-mature tactic of putting duct tape over their mouths and sulking through the proceedings (as if someone held a gun to their head and MADE THEM sit through Sommers's presentation. Good grief – don't you have anything better to do? Like, homework or something?) Others jeered and interrupted Sommers and even mocked her for calling on male audience members during the Q&A (even though, according to the sourcelink at Third Base Politics, Sommers made an effort to call on an equal number of male and female students).

And while "Safe Spaces" were provided to protect students from these EEEEEEEVIL facts and opposing viewpoints, Sommers had to be given actual police escorts to and from the lecture hall –

I don't think Sommers needed to be given a can of Play-doh to help her cope with the hostility, but that's just a guess.
The article over at Third Base Politics closes with this sentiment, which I think is a pretty good sum-up of the event and how it was received –
Overall, it was a saddening experience that is all too common these days. Too often, we see a refusal to engage in a mutually beneficial debate of facts and solutions. If someone’s opinion differs, even slightly, they must be demonized, attacked and shouted down. They must be falsely accused of hate speech and supporting rape.That attitude was certainly on display last night in Oberlin.
Oh yes. You want to be taken seriously and have your views heard, liberal feminists? Better shut down all those who disagree with you! And make sure you do it with passive-aggressive protest signs written on copy paper you got from the library copy machine with Sharpies you borrowed from your roommate (wonder if they're the fruity-smelling kind). What else will contribute to the dialogue? Duct tape! On our mouths! Yeah – that'll REALLY show an accomplished PhD who's worked in philosophy and done research and written books on this topic! THIS is what we're paying thousands of dollars in tuition money – so we can add to the "SHUT UP YOU'RE WRONG!" wing of political discussion.
What's worse is that when these kids graduate from college, they are going to have someting similar to the four-year-plus-graduate-degree that I have. And I feel like my own educational credentials just went down in value because of these idiots.
There is a silver lining, however (and I like to focus on the positive). I was following the events of last night via Sommers's Twitter feed and, despite all the immaturity and poor behavior at the event, Sommers did mention that a group of audience members – including a few detractors – joined her to continue the conversation over drinks –

Me too, Dr. Sommers. Me too.