LETTER: College crybabies, get over it, Trump won and life goes on

To Ozaukee Press:

The voting machines have not been unplugged for more than a few days, and the reactions, the statements, the mourning tears (literally), the incredible, overwhelming negativity has begun. Governors of blue states have already pledged their plans to derail whatever they can and mount a legal battle against Trump. In some respects, I say: Go right ahead. You are in a  big hole already because of your absolute failure to listen to your own constituents and I suspect your efforts will likely make that hole bigger.

I am absolutely blown away, however, by the actions at Harvard (an institution that has clearly lost its way). Professors told students it was understandable if they couldn’t come to class. Class schedules were modified, quizzes were not counted, exams were postponed. Student organizations and faculty offered opportunities for students “to come to terms with the election results.” Professors offered their office spaces for students and faculty alike to “process election results” while grieving for glass ceilings that weren’t shattered, fearful for the future or embarrassed to “face our international colleagues.” (Feel free to Google for the full story from the Harvard Crimson.)

Similar reactions took place at Columbia, Barnard and other campuses as well. One campus set up a “safe room” with cookies and milk, Legos and coloring books where students could “process.”

Trust me: I get the disenchantment and disappointment, the pain over this chain of events, the ebbing of youthful idealism. But I stop empathizing when I see these students, and even more so the university adults, with the inability to stand up, put on their big boy pants, dig in and chart a renewed course.

If these students cannot handle this level of disappointment, we are gonna be in a heap of trouble in this country going forward.

Elizabeth Brelsford

Port Washington