A college student penned an op-ed in the campus paper complaining of being “angry” and “scared” after “cisgender men” intruded their “safe space” and installed a new radiator to upgrade the heating in the dorm.
Student at pricey college complains of anxiety after “cisgender men” install a new radiator in dorm
At Oberlin College, a famed progressive liberal arts college in Ohio, where the cost of attendance runs as high as $80,000 a year, a student penned an op-ed in the campus paper complaining about the anxiety they suffered from the likelihood that “cisgender men” would be the ones installing a new radiator in their dormitory that was designated as a “safe space” for women and trans students, Fox and the Daily Wire reported.
Op-ed complains to school about men installing radiator
Peter Fray-Witzer, a student at Oberlin College, wrote an op-ed in the Friday edition of The Oberlin Review complaining about male workers being allowed in the “safe space” dormitory. The piece began by mentioning the receipt of an email on October 7 about the radiator upgrade project, complaining that they had “less than 24 hours to prepare for the arrival of the installation crew.”
“In general, I am very averse to people entering my personal space,” Fray-Witzer wrote. “This anxiety was compounded by the fact that the crew would be strangers, and they were more than likely to be cisgender men.”
“I was angry, scared, and confused,” Fray-Witzer continued. “Why didn’t the College complete the installation over the summer, when the building was empty?”
“The workers began installing in common spaces, and I could see immediately that they were all men,” Fray-Witzer added, noting a worker “warned me that they would return later in the week to check the insulation.”
“Sure enough, they were back the next day,” Fray-Witzer says. “I felt mildly violated and a little peeved.”
This college should take steps to keep students comfortable and safe, student says
“A significant portion of students choose to live in Baldwin because they are victims of sexual assault or abuse, have suffered past invasions of privacy, or have some other reason to fear cisgender men,” Fray-Witzer points out.
“I understand, of course, that installations like this are routine,” Fray-Witzer concedes. “The College needs to improve its facilities occasionally, and who am I to stand in the way of that? After all, I get a brand-spanking-new radiator, right in time for the cold weather. But why not finish the project during the four months of the summer semester, when the building was unoccupied?”
Fray-Witzer declared: “They [the college] should have taken measures to keep students comfortable and safe — especially those who have elected to live in a specifically designated safe space.”
