NYU students say 'Coddled' author is 'unsettling' graduation speaker

"Treasure your attention," interact with real people in real life and "do hard things," said Jonathan Haidt in a graduation speech at New York University last week.

He quoted a poem by Mary Oliver, written when she was nearly 80 years old:

Pay attention.

Be astonished.

Tell about it.

"It sounds simple," said Haidt. "But paying attention is in fact one of the most challenging and meaningful things you can do. Because what you pay attention to shapes what you care about. And what you care about shapes who you become."

Jonathan Haidt gave the commencement speech at NYU's May 14 ceremony.

Some students booed Haidt. He continued speaking.

Student government leaders had urged NYU to disinvite Haidt, a free-speech advocate and the author of The Coddling of the American Mind and The Anxious Generation.

Choosing Haidt, who teaches social psychology in NYU's business school was “deeply unsettling,” they said in a letter. “Many students have reported feelings of disappointment, disgust, unenthusiasm, defeat, and embarrassment,” the letter went on, expressing regret that their celebratory moment had instead “become another instance of being misunderstood.”

Haidt, who's criticized diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, fails to "mirror the ambition and diversity of our graduates," the letter added. And they're unimpressed with NYU's Haidt-inspired In Real Life initiative, which is creating screen-free spaces, dinners, events and activities to encourage students to socialize with each others. "Digital distraction" is a distraction from "real-world crises and systemic hurdles," the letter complained.

For Haidt's supporters, "the symbolism is unmistakable," write Jeremy W. Peters and Matthew Haag in the New York Times. "The controversy might even fit in one of his own books: A small group of students tries to cancel an outspoken critic of cancel culture, who says that American education has been woefully deficient when it comes to exposing young people to perspectives different from their own."

In The Coddling of the American Mind, Haidt and co-author, Greg Lukianoff "argued that schools cultivated a mentality of fragility, making personal safety paramount, while de-emphasizing problem-solving skills," they write. "Students, they concluded, were insulated from encountering uncomfortable situations and upsetting ideas, leaving them ill-prepared to handle difficulty as adults."

The NYU students say they're not coddled! They're not anxious! But previous classes got to hear "prestigious speakers" such as megastar Taylor Swift, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Saturday Night Live's Molly Shannon and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin.

Haidt is no Taylor Swift. But his campaign against the "screen-based childhood" and the digitally distracted classroom has been and continues to be very influential.