Too Afraid to Flirt IRL
And coddling and conformity at the Ivy League, but also a bright spot
Dear Coddling Movie Community,
I’m pleased to report that our community keeps growing and we’re approaching a big milestone: 10,000 subscribers!
We are thrilled so many of you make The Coddling movie substack a part of your day. We really appreciate all of our subscribers, and if you really want to support our mission please consider becoming a paid subscriber.
I’ll even make it extra easy to take the plunge.
We had a big family birthday party for Courtney last night, so maybe it’s just the eggnog hangover talking, but …
I’ve decided to take 60% off paid subscriptions this week only!
Running this operation takes a lot of time and resources and our paid subscribers not only help us keep the lights on, they help us take advantage of opportunities to reach new audiences.
We keep getting requests for special screenings, to dub the movie into different languages, to do outreach to high school students, and so on.
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Paid subscribers enjoy bonus articles, bonus video content, and other perks. But perhaps the biggest perk is knowing that you’re making the culture a little less insane, and a little more open to free speech and antifragility.
Remember the 60+ screenings (and counting) in five countries (and counting).
Remember the Gen Z student who watched The Coddling movie and said, “I’m stronger than I was told.”
Remember the impact The Coddling movie (and this substack) had on our Gen Z contributor Margo Margan: How the Coddling Movie Helped Me
Remember you have until midnight on Friday, December 13 to take advantage of our absolutely insane 60%-off sale.
Thanks again to all of you,
Ted
We do quite a lot of Ivy bashing here at The Coddling movie substack.
Of course, we think the schools have earned it. But we also want to highlight those times when the Ivies stand up for the values they committed to back when they were founded.
Today, I’m pleased to highlight one of those instances. All of the Ivies stand up for diversity, but would you believe one Ivy League president is actually standing up for viewpoint diversity?
I’ll also highlight some sad ways the real world, specifically the dating world, parallels the problems we see on campus. Seems that, these days, many singles are fed up with dating apps, but they’re also too afraid to look for love in real life.
But first, more Ivy bashing!
Cancel Class and Pass Out the Lemon Bars
Harvard undergrad Henry P. Moss voted for Kamala Harris, but he’s disgusted by the way his university reacted to Donald Trump’s win.
He calls out the “ideologically homogeneous echo chamber” that is Harvard. He was hoping the faculty “could at least discharge their pastoral responsibilities by guiding us to maturely process this kind of adversity.”
Instead, they disappointed him.
Instead, Harvard decided to stick with its default response—coddling students:
Instead of motivating students to take the results in stride, professors and administrators offered lemon bars, converted their offices into election processing spaces for grieving students, canceled classes, and made quizzes optional.
Frankly, I am embarrassed. Are my peers — legal adults who also happen to be the best and brightest of our generation — really so immature that a personally unfavorable election result impedes their daily functioning?
Evidently, yes.
Some might call these actions from faculty and administrators care for the well-being of students. Others might argue that it’s necessary to validate the emotions of students. I, however, have a much simpler term. I call it coddling. And it’s insulting both that my peers needed it and the University was more than happy to oblige.
Moss writes that:
the level of immaturity displayed … by students and faculty alike, was thoroughly disappointing. In the wake of Election Day, my peers played right into the hands of the right, who revel in nothing more than calling those on the left out-of-touch “liberal snowflakes” who can’t handle the slightest insult to their feelings.
For more on post-election campus coddling, check out my recent Newsweek piece:
After President-elect Donald Trump won his second trip to the White House, universities from Oregon to Georgetown broke out the milk and cookies to console heartbroken students. They organized snuggle sessions with therapy animals including dogs, goats, and at least one duck. They offered friendship beads, coloring books, and calming jars. Harvard, Cornell, and other schools cancelled classes so students could engage in "self-care."
If you're snickering, you're not alone. But the way universities infantilize students isn't just ridiculous. It actually contributes to the Gen Z mental health crisis, and the problem stretches far beyond election season.
Related
Harvard Screening Recap: The Coddling Movie Goes to Cambridge
Another Ivy League President is Gone: Why I Have Been Expecting Cornell's Martha Pollack to "Retire"
How Could Anyone Vote for Trump?
Over at the University of Pennsylvania, a professor named Jonathan Zimmerman describes himself as a Democrat who considers Trump to be “a bully and a charlatan.” Zimmerman struggles to understand how anyone could vote for him.
Then the prof adds: “That’s precisely why I need to hear from people who do.”
He recalls the time a rattled pro-Trump student wanted to speak with him: