The Atlantic

Who Is Competent to Decide What Offends?

New survey data casts doubt on a popular framework used by universities to identify microaggressions.
Source: Reuters

As the ranks of college administrators have swelled in higher education, one task they’ve undertaken is more aggressively training students—and at times, faculty members— in what is variously called “cultural competence” or “diversity and inclusion.”

The aims of these efforts are laudable.

College ought to be as welcoming to students from historically marginalized groups as it is to anyone else; and it ought to prepare all students for civic life in a hugely diverse society.

But when training faculty members or educating students so that they

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