American colleges and universities are supposed to be places where students can freely express their opinions without being scrutinized. Instead, a potent mixture of social justice warriors and political correctness has plagued campuses across the country, forcing many ideologies out of the discussion. What is even worse than that concoction is that school administrators succumb to these activist groups for fear they will lose their jobs.

One of the first instances of this was in May 2016, when Yale University professor Erika Christakis challenged the school’s Intercultural Affairs Committee about a memo they sent to students warning them not to wear culturally or racially insensitive Halloween costumes. At the end of her email she said, “whose business is it to control the forms of costumes of young people?”

Her husband, Dr. Nicholas Christakis, another professor at Yale defended his wife and got into an argument with multiple students in the quad. Students demanded the couple resign as the heads of Silliman College for racial and cultural insensitivity. They still remain in their residential posts, but have decided not to teach for the fall semester.

In a USA Today article, Rob Montz describes the success social justice warriors are having on campuses across the country.

“Over the last couple years, Brown University students have sabotaged a lecture from former NYC police chief Ray Kelly, successfully pressured the campus newspaper to pull a controversial column about European colonialism and set up puppy-equipped safe space to escape a debate about rape culture,” Montz said.

DePaul University canceled a speaking appearance from conservative writer, Ben Shapiro, after students compared it to an “underground KKK meeting.”

Vice President of Facilities Operations Bob Janis stated in an email, “Given the experiences and security concerns that some other schools have had with Ben Shapiro speaking on their campuses, DePaul cannot agree to allow him to speak on our campus at this time.”

It is asinine that some of the most prestigious institutions in the country are waiving the white flag when feeling a little pressure from students. Colleges are a place of higher learning and should emphasize their students to have intelligent, respectful conversations.

Prior to the start of the fall semester, the University of Chicago sent a letter to all incoming freshmen that they would not tolerate any sort of behavior like this.

In a formal letter they stated, “Our commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so-called ‘trigger warnings,’ we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual ‘safe spaces’ where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own.”

Fortunately, at Oswego State there has not been any instances like these. Although the school was scheduled to have a Blue Lives Matter talk on Tuesday, Oct. 4, but it was postponed in observance of Rosh Hashanah. A week prior to the event, author Tim Wise spoke at the school about police-community relations and Black Lives Matter.

Blue Lives Matter is rescheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 25 and it will be interesting to see if students complain to administration regarding the topic.