Despite the fact that most college students are over the age of 18, they are still really kids in a lot of ways and thus bullying definitely happens on campuses. Fraternity hazing is one example that most people think of when the subject of bullying in colleges comes up, but it’s not the only one. Take one student’s recent experiences at Bryn Mawr, for example.
Freshman Andi Moritz posted on a ridesharing group for Bryn Mawr students. She was looking for someone to ride with her to campaign for Donald Trump, and she stated that students who didn’t want to be “out” as Trump supporters could contact her privately.
Oh, sweet dancing baby Groot on a rocket-powered rollercoaster.
“After I posted [the original message],” Moritz said, “I went to a cycling class and when I returned I saw that people were upset because in the message I said, “If you’re not comfortable about being ‘out’ about not hating Trump feel free to message me privately.”
“They were mad about that phrase” she explains, because it’s usually used in references to members of the LGBT community. “I apologized, and deleted that part because I wasn’t there to make people upset.”
The messages continued nonetheless, both publicly on the Facebook page and to Moritz privately.
That’s bad enough, but it got worse. One student event threatened violence against Moritz over her opinions on a different topic. And what does Moritz allege happened when she took it to school officials?
The next day, she visited the campus counseling center.
“The counselor defended the people who were saying horrible things to me, and asked me to point out the victim in the situation,” Moritz said. “‘Well who do you think the victim is?’ she asked. I don’t like pointing fingers and pointing victims. I just felt like she wasn’t doing anything to help me.”
Following this incident, Moritz met with her dean to discuss what had happened. “I suggested some sort of open conversation so people could share their thoughts,” Moritz recalled. “She seemed open, but it never happened.”
Unsurprisingly, Moritz dropped out of the school, which costs over $44,000 per academic year. That’s a lot to pay for a school that blames you for being attacked.
And here I thought victim blaming was out this year. Go figure.
Now, Bryn Mawr is a private women’s college, so it’s not like taxpayers are funding this stupidity. However, it’s interesting that the Bryn Mawr webpage, “Our honor code stresses mutual respect and academic integrity, and student government is exceptionally strong.” Once again, “mutual respect” only goes so far if you’re not a raging liberal.
It sounds like Bryn Mawr needs to update its website to be more specific. Because if you’re going to vote for a Republican, you’re not really welcome. That “mutual respect” means Republicans better watch their mouths, but no one else need bother.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member