If you are interested in debating this topic, attend the Safe Space Forum next Wednesday and in the mean time, feel free to vote in CPU's latest poll about Safe Spaces to express your opnion.

Continue reading for the full text of CUCR's Safe Space poster.

(written on the back:)

The Problem with Safe Spaces:

The establishment of “safe spaces,” such as the Stephen Donaldson (for LGBTQ) and Malcolm X (for Blacks) lounges, is troubling on many levels. These lounges require swipe access that is awarded to students based on membership in certain student groups. While all students should feel comfortable at our university, the designation of particular areas as “safe” suggests that the rest of the campus is in some way dangerous. Rather than promoting inclusivity, “safe spaces” emphasize the differences between students and legitimize a mentality of on-campus victimization. Their creation implies that certain minorities should have genuine fears when on campus.

Beyond this, the notion that particular zones are needed to make minorities welcome is an insult not only to the minority groups themselves but also to the Columbia community as a whole. Individual students affiliating with a minority group do not need special treatment to be fully part of this university.

An inclusive society cannot be created by constantly emphasizing difference. We should celebrate the diversity of this university's individuals rather than that of its factions. Yet the Office of Multicultural Affairs consistently works to make sure that students identify as part of a particular social group rather than as individuals: although it sounds absurd, at Columbia there are even separate graduation ceremonies for particular minority groups (LGBTQ, Black, Latino and Asian).

While discrimination should be rooted out at all levels, university subsidized and promoted labels do nothing but perpetuate stereotyping. We look forward to the day when society is free from discrimination, but the creation of “safe spaces” both hampers progress towards this goal and is fundamentally illiberal.