Defending the fact that men and women are different still has consequences in the Ivy League, as one student recently attested.
In an op-ed Tuesday at the Wall Street Journal, Jared Lederman described the backlash he faced after writing an essay about how men and women “aren’t identical.” A senior at Cornell University, Lederman is studying applied economics and management.
His essay, “Men and Women Were Not Created Equal,” published earlier this month on Medium, argues that “men and women are undeniably equal in moral worth” but that society has failed both sexes by denying that each has different wants, needs, and responsibilities.
Once campus got word of it, Lederman said he was forced out of his professional fraternity — and more.
He wrote at WSJ:
Cornell University published a report on the future of higher education last week. It focused on free speech, calling for “rigorous deliberation and engaged discourse” and arguing that difficult conversations should be “a feature, not a bug” of university life. These are laudable commitments.
That same week, I discovered what happens when a student tests those principles. I was publicly denounced by hundreds of my classmates, forced out of several campus organizations and threatened with professional retaliation.
I published an essay on Medium titled “Men and Women Were Not Created Equal.” It argued that while men and women have equal worth, they aren’t identical, and that Americans treat traditional sex roles with unreasonable disdain. I believed it was a necessary but fairly common view, and I expected perhaps a dozen readers. Instead, within 48 hours, nearly 10,000 people had viewed the piece, and I had become the subject of campuswide controversy. Hundreds of posts labeling me misogynistic and bigoted appeared on Cornell’s anonymous chat forums. Students publicized my campus affiliations and demanded my removal. Others planned to contact potential employers and damage my career.
Then the consequences moved offline. At the time, I led pledge education for Delta Sigma Pi, a co-ed professional fraternity. My fellow leadership texted me that although I was “entitled” to my “personal views,” the essay conflicted with DSP’s values. I was offered the choice to take it down or resign. I chose the latter. Hours later, I was expelled from Zeta Beta Tau, my social fraternity, because its leaders were concerned my beliefs would reflect poorly on my brothers.
A campus claiming a commitment to free expression should have a culture that aligns with those values. Cornell’s doesn’t.
Read his full op-ed at the Wall Street Journal.
