I think I finally found the right candidate. It was the shortest interview known to humanity. A mother of three, with a 19-year-old and preschooler twins. So an old mother like me, which means she’s known serious hardship. Has her own business and immediately struck a friendship with my secretary.

I hired her on the spot.

I saw the video, and the professor, and especially his wife, disgraced themselves completely. Yes, the student is a brainless, chirpy airhead. But a professor should know how to engage with pouty students. Under no circumstance should you raise your voice, lose your cool, or initiate physical contact with a student. Most importantly, you do not unleash an overly emotional spouse on them.

The student has an absolute right to express her beliefs – hideous as they might be – at a university function. And anybody else has the right to respond in a similarly calm and, ideally, more dignified manner. There’s a profound difference between having a party at your house as a private individual and hosting a professional event.

How can we ask students not to be enormous snowflakes who freak out when they hear something unpleasant when we act like exactly this kind of snowflake?