At a anonymous university graduation a group of about a dozen students started shrieking and waving banners, showing their immense gratitude and respect for the school, staff and parents who had traveled far and wide for the event. I asked a student about it and he said they were wealthy banker's kids from NYC. It needs to be called it out for the elitist performative bullshit that it is.
There was a protest at my disowned undergrad alma mater not long after I was Alumna in Residence. The large banner of Charles Krauthammer (this was 2013) unfurled, then re-furled, the last day I was on campus. My experience with the students at my prestigious, high-priced women's college was that they were nowhere near as intellectually capable, enthusiastic, and ambitious as the students in my community college classes. I watched the generations coming through, and I agree with you as to what has happened. There's such a mismatch in our society. I think the problems in higher ed are much, much deeper than too much DEI. Perhaps you could broaden your lens to encompass "intellectual incapacity" of faculty and administrators or something of that nature.
This is what I see. My niece and nephew in California, at state schools, are shockingly conservative (in a good way). They’re sick of the BS, the loudmouths, the activists. They have no time or tolerance for them.
Great piece. I live in your world and I agree with your assessment. You are, no doubt, familiar with the Accommodation Letters that we receive at the beginning of each semester telling us which students need extra exam time, note takers, etc. in order to serve particular needs or disabilities.
Recently, I’ve found that fewer and fewer students use their granted accommodations. When I ask why, I often discover that they inadvertently signaled a “need” to some admissions counselor, or that there was some long forgotten issue that carried over from high school.
My point is that the students often aren’t the ones asking for the accommodations. They’re better than the “adults” think they are.
I experienced something very similar at my two schools, a Jesuit university and an art school. For me, the period between 2015 and 2021 was peak Accommodation. Now, it seems that fewer students have accommodations, and even fewer use the ones they've been granted. It occurred to me that the "Accessibility Office" that grants these accommodations might not exist in a half-generation or so.
And I came to the same conclusion that it's the parents who are pushing for the accommodations. And maybe the students are rebelling against their parents by not using them? Or maybe it's too much of a hassle, or maybe they don't want to stand out among their peers (by not showing up on test day or using a computer to complete an exam while their peers handwrite).
That said, I have a couple of colleagues who don't allow the use of electronic devices in the classroom, and they've reported to me that students will use their accommodations to reunite with their laptops/phones during instruction.
the "Accessibility Office" that grants these accommodations might not exist in a half-generation or so.
Is this plausible? Might the Accessibility Offices perceive the threat, and respond by taking a more active role to recruit students "needing" accommodations, and demand continued funding as a way of complying with ADA, or civil rights, or federal/state accommodation mandates?
I'm outside of higher ed, but familiar with organizational tactics.
I was being provocatively speculative in that comment; I guess accessibility offices will rebrand or shift their duties if fewer and fewer students request accommodations. It's just interesting that, say, in 2012, accessibility offices were relatively small endeavors, while now they're full-blown operations with large, dedicated office spaces and dozens of staff members. In the future, we may see that as the historical anomaly, especially as there are fewer and fewer college students in general.
That’s interesting. I’ve had a different experience. I’ve seen an increase in more robust accommodation requests (e.g., ensuring all files and multimedia are accessible by assistive tech for students with visual impairments, etc.) vs the more “standard” requests for more time on assignments/exams, etc. The more “standard” requests seemed to have plateaued.
I haven’t seen students using accommodations to stay connected to their devices in tech-free classrooms, but I primarily support online courses where this type of request doesn’t apply.
Your comments about your students correspond with my (admittedly limited) teaching experience. As part of my “package" for my recent MFA I taught several classes of first-year comp and technical writing to undergrads at a state school in a rural part of the Midwest. The kids were a mixture of rural, suburban and urban, as the town was served by Amtrak, a train that came directly from Chicago, bringing a good chunk of our students from hundreds of miles away. Regardless of these different backgrounds, many of the students had, in common, severe financial pressures, unforgiving jobs that were far from being Ivy-League style ‘resume-building’ jobs, small children to take care of, parents who were ill that they were helping . . . I would only find out about these things gradually, as they wrote essays about their experiences and struggled to get their class work done. Despite it all, generally they were cheerful in class, uncomplaining, polite to me personally, and apologetic when they didn’t get things done. I liked my students so much. Almost every minute of my time, aside from my own classwork and thesis, I spent preparing lessons that I hoped would “work,” and giving feedback on their projects — I wanted to really help them with their skills. And I felt like they mostly appreciated that. But I wish I could do more.
My kids were born 2003 and 2005. Everything this author states dovetails with what I have seen with my kids and their friends. Based on sample size of n=1, I noticed same thing regarding millennials with my nephew who expected to become a millionaire by age 25.
Good comments about gen z. I've seen the media narrative about them which is as you describe, fragile and entitled. My personal lived experience with them, otoh, as my employees is that they are mostly polite and hard-working.
I love my Gen Z coworkers, they have more aptitude snd learn faster than every other generation I’ve seen. They do struggle with resilience IME, which is strange, I have to explain to them they’re doing well for how new they are, even if they are struggling and don’t feel like it. I’ve had some odd experiences talking them out of quitting when they’re so much closer than they realize. Much less infighting than previous generations too, although they tell me it’s all online now.
I assume you've likely seen this , but posting it here for others to check out what Haidt actually said. And requestst for accomidation at Stanford are 40% of incoming class while community college is around 5%.
when will people realize that haidt is over rated? Him seeming bright & brave for saying kids watch too much screens and are fragile, is.... not that bright or brave. those who know him professionally are unimpressed and occassionally concerned aboit his own data integrity. he is a center left distraction saying only obvious truths that teeters on slop.
Appreciate the link. That survey is from Pollfish, an online survey platform whose own users have flagged it as unreliable. But you don't have to take my word for it. Here's Gen Z themselves calling it “complete BS”: https://www.reddit.com/r/GenZ/comments/1n6fwxp/we_all_know_this_is_complete_bs/ Which is the point of the piece.
Thanks for this fresh perspective. I want more than anything for Zoomers to not be the censorious snowflakes they’re usually described as. We need people who can help us fix the world’s problems.
At a anonymous university graduation a group of about a dozen students started shrieking and waving banners, showing their immense gratitude and respect for the school, staff and parents who had traveled far and wide for the event. I asked a student about it and he said they were wealthy banker's kids from NYC. It needs to be called it out for the elitist performative bullshit that it is.
There was a protest at my disowned undergrad alma mater not long after I was Alumna in Residence. The large banner of Charles Krauthammer (this was 2013) unfurled, then re-furled, the last day I was on campus. My experience with the students at my prestigious, high-priced women's college was that they were nowhere near as intellectually capable, enthusiastic, and ambitious as the students in my community college classes. I watched the generations coming through, and I agree with you as to what has happened. There's such a mismatch in our society. I think the problems in higher ed are much, much deeper than too much DEI. Perhaps you could broaden your lens to encompass "intellectual incapacity" of faculty and administrators or something of that nature.
This is what I see. My niece and nephew in California, at state schools, are shockingly conservative (in a good way). They’re sick of the BS, the loudmouths, the activists. They have no time or tolerance for them.
Great piece. I live in your world and I agree with your assessment. You are, no doubt, familiar with the Accommodation Letters that we receive at the beginning of each semester telling us which students need extra exam time, note takers, etc. in order to serve particular needs or disabilities.
Recently, I’ve found that fewer and fewer students use their granted accommodations. When I ask why, I often discover that they inadvertently signaled a “need” to some admissions counselor, or that there was some long forgotten issue that carried over from high school.
My point is that the students often aren’t the ones asking for the accommodations. They’re better than the “adults” think they are.
I experienced something very similar at my two schools, a Jesuit university and an art school. For me, the period between 2015 and 2021 was peak Accommodation. Now, it seems that fewer students have accommodations, and even fewer use the ones they've been granted. It occurred to me that the "Accessibility Office" that grants these accommodations might not exist in a half-generation or so.
And I came to the same conclusion that it's the parents who are pushing for the accommodations. And maybe the students are rebelling against their parents by not using them? Or maybe it's too much of a hassle, or maybe they don't want to stand out among their peers (by not showing up on test day or using a computer to complete an exam while their peers handwrite).
That said, I have a couple of colleagues who don't allow the use of electronic devices in the classroom, and they've reported to me that students will use their accommodations to reunite with their laptops/phones during instruction.
the "Accessibility Office" that grants these accommodations might not exist in a half-generation or so.
Is this plausible? Might the Accessibility Offices perceive the threat, and respond by taking a more active role to recruit students "needing" accommodations, and demand continued funding as a way of complying with ADA, or civil rights, or federal/state accommodation mandates?
I'm outside of higher ed, but familiar with organizational tactics.
Yes, Brian, the same tactics apply. These offices will be impossible to close.
I was being provocatively speculative in that comment; I guess accessibility offices will rebrand or shift their duties if fewer and fewer students request accommodations. It's just interesting that, say, in 2012, accessibility offices were relatively small endeavors, while now they're full-blown operations with large, dedicated office spaces and dozens of staff members. In the future, we may see that as the historical anomaly, especially as there are fewer and fewer college students in general.
That’s interesting. I’ve had a different experience. I’ve seen an increase in more robust accommodation requests (e.g., ensuring all files and multimedia are accessible by assistive tech for students with visual impairments, etc.) vs the more “standard” requests for more time on assignments/exams, etc. The more “standard” requests seemed to have plateaued.
I haven’t seen students using accommodations to stay connected to their devices in tech-free classrooms, but I primarily support online courses where this type of request doesn’t apply.
Your comments about your students correspond with my (admittedly limited) teaching experience. As part of my “package" for my recent MFA I taught several classes of first-year comp and technical writing to undergrads at a state school in a rural part of the Midwest. The kids were a mixture of rural, suburban and urban, as the town was served by Amtrak, a train that came directly from Chicago, bringing a good chunk of our students from hundreds of miles away. Regardless of these different backgrounds, many of the students had, in common, severe financial pressures, unforgiving jobs that were far from being Ivy-League style ‘resume-building’ jobs, small children to take care of, parents who were ill that they were helping . . . I would only find out about these things gradually, as they wrote essays about their experiences and struggled to get their class work done. Despite it all, generally they were cheerful in class, uncomplaining, polite to me personally, and apologetic when they didn’t get things done. I liked my students so much. Almost every minute of my time, aside from my own classwork and thesis, I spent preparing lessons that I hoped would “work,” and giving feedback on their projects — I wanted to really help them with their skills. And I felt like they mostly appreciated that. But I wish I could do more.
My kids were born 2003 and 2005. Everything this author states dovetails with what I have seen with my kids and their friends. Based on sample size of n=1, I noticed same thing regarding millennials with my nephew who expected to become a millionaire by age 25.
Good comments about gen z. I've seen the media narrative about them which is as you describe, fragile and entitled. My personal lived experience with them, otoh, as my employees is that they are mostly polite and hard-working.
I love my Gen Z coworkers, they have more aptitude snd learn faster than every other generation I’ve seen. They do struggle with resilience IME, which is strange, I have to explain to them they’re doing well for how new they are, even if they are struggling and don’t feel like it. I’ve had some odd experiences talking them out of quitting when they’re so much closer than they realize. Much less infighting than previous generations too, although they tell me it’s all online now.
I assume you've likely seen this , but posting it here for others to check out what Haidt actually said. And requestst for accomidation at Stanford are 40% of incoming class while community college is around 5%.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-198316484
Rich kids will richkid.
when will people realize that haidt is over rated? Him seeming bright & brave for saying kids watch too much screens and are fragile, is.... not that bright or brave. those who know him professionally are unimpressed and occassionally concerned aboit his own data integrity. he is a center left distraction saying only obvious truths that teeters on slop.
Gen Z are the ones who bring their parents to interviews: https://fortune.com/2025/08/14/gen-z-job-seekers-have-brought-a-parent-to-interview-research-reveals/
Appreciate the link. That survey is from Pollfish, an online survey platform whose own users have flagged it as unreliable. But you don't have to take my word for it. Here's Gen Z themselves calling it “complete BS”: https://www.reddit.com/r/GenZ/comments/1n6fwxp/we_all_know_this_is_complete_bs/ Which is the point of the piece.
Thanks for this fresh perspective. I want more than anything for Zoomers to not be the censorious snowflakes they’re usually described as. We need people who can help us fix the world’s problems.