New Yorker Cartoon Satirizes UChicago's Trigger Warning Debacle

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Aug 29, 2016 5:26PM

The University of Chicago administration probably couldn't have done a better job of sparking a viral media firestorm if it had been actually trying to. But, intentional or not, that's exactly what happened when word got out last week that the school's Dean of Students had sent a letter to incoming freshmen denouncing the use of "trigger warnings" and "safe spaces" in academic communities.

Some think the university is spot on, while others were disturbed. The issue has already inspired memes, response pieces and response-response pieces galore; but no matter where you come down on the issue, we think you might get a kick out of possibly the most high-brow response meme yet. It's the New Yorker's daily cartoon, by iconic contributor Benjamin Schwartz:

The cartoon cheekily depicts a mother dropping her backpack-clad teenage son in front of a college gate that looks suspiciously like the University of Chicago's Hull Gate (which incoming first-year students traditionally march through at the start of college orientation, as this writer experienced first-hand).

"If it makes you feel any better, they don't use trigger warnings on the tuition statements, either," the cartoon character deadpans to her son while resting a hand on his shoulder.

It doesn't.