Denver, Colo., Apr 5, 2023 / 11:30 am
Citing the need for the free exchange of ideas, the leaders of Cornell University have rejected a student resolution advocating that the university mandate “content warnings for traumatic content in the classroom.”
“We cannot accept this resolution, as the actions it recommends would infringe on our core commitment to academic freedom and freedom of inquiry, and are at odds with the goals of a Cornell education,” university president Martha Pollack and university provost Michael I. Kotlikoff said in an April 3 response.
The Cornell University Student Assembly resolution recommended warnings for content including but not limited to “sexual assault, domestic violence, self-harm, suicide, child abuse, racial hate crimes, transphobic violence, homophobic harassment, xenophobia.” It contended that “exposure to triggering content” can negatively affect students with post-traumatic stress disorder, and the content warnings would respect and acknowledge this.
The addition of content warnings “makes the discussion of sensitive academic topics more predictable, therefore balancing the academic freedom of instructors to teach with the needs of the student body.”