"Cry Closet" Installed for Stressed College Students at University in case they get too stressed out during finals week and need a place to cry.However, this is an art piece from student Nemo Miller and many are wondering if this is meant to be a serious space to cry, if it is meant to mock students, or if it is just meant to spark the conversation around "safe spaces"SUPPORT JOURNALISM. Become a patron athttp://www.patreon.com/TimcastMy Second Channel - https://www.youtube.com/timcastnewsMake sure to subscribe for more travel, news, opinion, and documentary with Tim Pool everyday.Support the show (http://timcast.com/donate)
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The University of Utah has recently installed a Cry Closet.
This is a small booth that you can go inside, cry for about 10 minutes, there's stuffed animals, and they say it's for students who are stressed out because of finals, but the story's actually a little bit more complicated than just a safe space at a university.
Now a lot of people have said that college students are being pampered, they're being overly protected, people refer to them as little snowflakes, because universities are not allowing certain people to come speak, they're jacking up the security costs for some speaking events, and then we saw the entire free speech battle last year throughout the United States at various parks and universities where many speakers were effectively disinvited or forced to cancel their speaking events due to acts of violence, protest, or administrative bloat.
Now, the story today is that the University of Utah, in finals week, has erected a cry closet so that students have a place to cry from their stress.
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From InsideHigherEd.com, cry closet installed for finals at University of Utah.
As finals week approaches and students try to learn a semester's worth of information in a few days, it's likely many will have the inclination to weep.
But with campus libraries teeming with students, it can be tricky to locate a private space to shed a tear.
A student at the University of Utah has invented a solution to the pressure of finals week, which begins at the college today, a library cry closet.
Nemo Miller, a senior in the fine arts program, installed the closet in Utah's library Sunday.
The installation will remain in the library until finals week ends May 2nd, spokeswoman Jaina Cunningham said in an interview.
Miller was profiled as human of the U last week.
The Cry Closet went viral just about two days ago.
So this tweet from Jackie Larson says, So my school installed a cry closet in the library.
LMFAO, what is higher education?
And you can see in the photos there's this little booth with a door.
There's the rules and some stuffed animals, but this tweet has 146,935 retweets, 416,000 likes.
On the Cry Closet, this plaque reads, A safe space for stressed-out students, otherwise known as the Cry Closet.
This space is meant to provide a place for students studying for finals to take a short 10-minute break.
Rules of the closet.
Knock before entering.
Only one person in the closet at a time.
Limit your time in the closet to no more than 10 minutes.
Turn lights and timer off before leaving.
Use hashtag cryclosetUofU in posting on social media.
And below is this artist, Nemo Miller, in collaboration with Tony Miller and David Mayer.
So you may have heard about the Cry Closet, but first, I think it's important to note
that it's an art project.
It is considered an art installation.
But just because it was considered an art project doesn't mean we actually know if it's intended to be a serious place for people to cry, or to present a critique on those who are demanding safe spaces, or if it's not meant to be either, but to provoke a conversation.
In response to Jackie Larson's tweet, University of Utah tweeted, Hopefully you won't be needing this, but if so, it's at Marriott Library.
Cry if you want to.
Good luck with finals.
To which someone responded that this is beyond pathetic.
First we tried to have Swoop be our mascot, now this?
Way to prepare students for the real world.
Wonder how many prospective employers have cry closets.
And University of Utah responded, point taken, DexDog.
We will cease and desist all attempts at humor across campus.
And in response to another individual, they said, An attempt of humor, yes, but it's also a work of art meant
to provoke feeling, thought, and conversation, which the artist has apparently done.
So we hope she received academic credit for it.
She sure deserves it, and yes, it was approved to go up.
University of Utah's official verified Twitter account made light and said that this was humor.
So, quite possibly, this is meant to poke fun at people who are scared or stressed or need a safe space in college.
There's kind of two sides to this.
There's probably more, but you have one group saying that college needs to prepare you for the real world.
And the real world is terrifying.
And you have other people saying that college can be stressful and it's a place where people live and needs to be considered safe.
And thus you have a cry closet.
But many people actually believe this to be a legitimate setup by the university when it was just one artist and their associates.
The university has said that there was an attempt at humor, but I don't know if they mean about the Cry Closet or their tweet.
So whether or not the Cry Closet is real, many people view it as a joke, but many others actually take it seriously.
One student tweeted, We all need a cry closet to be honest.
Big thanks to Nemos and Artist for creating the cry closet U of U.
To which someone else responded, Whoa, cool.
Now this student claims to be a University of Utah Journalism and Political Science student opinion writer for The Crony.
But this is kind of a confusing story because it seems like a big joke.
I can't imagine that this is real.
I mean, I don't want to believe it's real, except we have seen universities launching safe spaces.
In which case, this very well may be taken seriously by many students, including this journalism student, that Well, that they believe that this is a legitimate space to cry when you're stressed out.
Unsurprisingly though, another response is a bit more ominous, which reads,
Just wait until you millennials get out into the real world.
We wolves are waiting, and then you are really gonna need a cry closet.
But this brings up an interesting point.
Whether or not the cry closet is real, the artist has succeeded if their mission is to provoke conversation,
thoughts, feelings, etc., as the university has said, because I'm having a conversation, you're learning about
this, and the tweets got nearly 150,000 retweets, So we're definitely having a conversation about safe spaces.
You may know this.
I didn't go to college.
You may also know I really don't like the idea of college.
Sure, it makes sense if you want to study certain things, like, you want to be an academic.
You know, you have to go to school if you want to learn specific things like math, science.
There are laboratories at universities where you can do the work in, you know, science or whatever.
If you want to be a lawyer, you gotta go to law school.
If you want to be a doctor, you gotta go to medical school.
But for the most part, Being a journalist, you know, like this student, a lot of the subjects that colleges teach are pointless.
Because ultimately, in the real world, you're gonna have to figure it out.
And you have to be an innovator.
If you're someone who just follows a trend, then once you get into the real world, you're gonna be behind the curve.
And I've had conversation after conversation with universities about how the things they're teaching their students are obsolete.
If the media, these news companies, are going to act like I'm somehow really great at what I do, offer me these jobs, write articles about me because of my innovation in technology and journalism on social media, then why aren't they teaching the students to do the exact same thing?
Why are they teaching them these archaic practices?
So, universities have their shortfalls, but the biggest of which is what we're talking about here.
Safe spaces!
As a journalist, it's not just about what I learned to do.
It's not just about what a university will teach you.
It's about how extremely dangerous, stressful, and nerve-wracking it is to be a journalist.
If you're a journalist and you're going to go after a major corporation with an investigative story, prepare for them to come after you and destroy you.
You need real security.
They're going to smear you.
They're going to hack you.
What if you want to go to a foreign country?
What if you want to report on something that a powerful interest doesn't like?
There's never going to be a cry closet in the real world.
By all means, If you're at home, and you're a journalist or some other profession, and the real world has got you down, you can't pay your taxes, your bills are too much, there's violence in the streets, you can go into your own closet and cry all you'd like.
And sometimes crying is really important.
Humans cry.
That's totally cool.
But universities are supposed to prepare individuals for the real world.
And I have never subscribed to the belief that they actually do that.
When I grew up, this is what I saw.
When I was college age, you know, 10, 12 years ago, I saw my friends going to schools and being pampered and protected.
I'm not actually learning anything.
The closet went viral on Twitter after its announcement.
Miller was unavailable for an interview as she was studying for finals, but she expressed excitement about the reception to her work on Twitter and provided a statement Wednesday.
I am interested in humanity and the inherent complexities of the human condition.
In my work, I reflect on my experiences and explore what it means to be human.
One aspect of humanity that I am currently exploring is connections and missed connections through communication.
It's been interesting to watch the response to this piece about human emotions, and I'm proud to see the power of art in action.
So whether or not this is meant to be used seriously, or it's meant to just start a conversation, it has succeeded.
Because there are students tweeting in support of it, very excited that it exists, so they can go inside and cry.
And there are a lot of other people who are now bringing up the idea of safe spaces and having a critical conversation
about what is happening at universities.
Well, again, because they've been doing it for a little while, but this is just another piece of the puzzle where
people are bringing up issues like safe spaces.
So, you know what?
Regardless of whether or not this is a legitimate safe space for people, it is generating conversation.
And that is a really good thing, because conversation is how we progress and solve problems.
So let me know what you think!
How do you feel about college safe spaces?
How do you feel about the cry closet?
Do you think it's meant to be legitimate?
Like people are actually supposed to go in there and cry?
Do you think this person is actually poking fun at safe spaces?
Or is it possible this is just someone who kind of doesn't really have an opinion on it?
And thought it would be interesting to spark that conversation.
Comment below, we'll keep the conversation going.
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