j.r. leonard

11/I imagine the mental and emotional pain of social exclusion from racism, sexism, etc. is somewhat the same in that regard. A pain that people just don't believe in and don't respect unless they've felt it themselves.

12/So my bet is that the kids are invoking physical fear, physical violence, and physical harm because that's the only language they know that they feel will get campus administrators to take their pain seriously. Because American culture is still full of George Pattons.

13/OK, so here's my second, mostly unrelated thought. I think Americans expect too much out of college, as an institution and as a life experience.

14/Americans who go to college often come from towns and suburbs where they didn't quite fit in - where they were a little bit smarter or more intellectual or more liberal than others, or where they were excluded minorities, etc.

15/A lot of people - myself included - come into college with the expectation of "Now, everything will be different. Now I'll really find my people. Now the system will be on my side instead of against me. Now I'll live my Best Life."

16/And college administrators, knowing that this is what kids expect, generally do their best to provide that. But at the end of the day, they're just a bunch of middle-aged career bureaucrats, and their power to create Narnia is limited.

17/College administrators can't undo a whole childhood worth of social exclusion. They certainly can't undo child abuse or other trauma that some kids come in with. And they can't make sure that every kid lives his or her Best Life. It is simply beyond their powers.

18/Now, it IS probably true that administrators, who tend to be white, tend to optimize their Nurturing Environment toward the needs of people like themselves. And this is certainly something they can and should (and almost certainly will) change.