When I read about professors being afraid of their own students and changing what they teach in response to that fear, I'm struck by two things. First, I understand why they're afraid. After my decade and a half in the classroom, I can confidently add to the chorus suggesting that universities increasingly treat students like consumers. As administrators seem more concerned with enrollment dollars than students' learning, instructors receive a clear message: "The customer is always right.

Students are consumers. They do have a choice in where they attend higher education, and if they do not like the education they are receiving then they are free to transfer. That said, I think that professors are afraid of the wrong thing here. While teaching controversial topics may offend, I believe that more students will be offended by lackluster course presentations. As long as controversial topics are not rammed down anyone's throats, and people are given a structured means of responding, then I believe that professors have nothing to worry about.

I guess what I am trying to say in an ineloquent manner is that there is more than one thing to be afraid of, and under-performing is as real a fear as teaching something controversial.

As administrators seem more concerned with enrollment dollars than students' learning, instructors receive a clear message: "The customer is always right."

I wish American culture would emphasize that college isn't a degree factory, but a place to be put against new and, sometimes uncomfortable, situations and ideas. The whole idea that you are put in a building with hundreds of skilled and knowledgeable persons, and you can talk to any one of them and have them critique your thinking, is a truly magical situation. Yet I see so many people squander the opportunity by viewing their non-major classes as an inconvenience to overcome, and in the worst cases, their major-classes as an obstacle to a job.

I'm a professor. My colleagues who let their students dictate what they teach are cowards. by Koritha Mitchell on June 10, 2015

I'm a tenured professor at Ohio State University. I have taught at the college level for more than 15 years — more than five as graduate student instructor, seven as a tenure-track professor, and three with tenure.

More on how professors react to their students

I'm a liberal professor, and my liberal students terrify me

I was a liberal adjunct professor. My liberal students didn’t scare me at all.

When I read about professors being afraid of their own students and changing what they teach in response to that fear, I'm struck by two things. First, I understand why they're afraid. After my decade and a half in the classroom, I can confidently add to the chorus suggesting that universities increasingly treat students like consumers. As administrators seem more concerned with enrollment dollars than students' learning, instructors receive a clear message: "The customer is always right."

I think that if the reason they are changing their lesson is fear, than I agree with this guy. There is something to be said about teaching based on the current times an what is needed as far as educating.