The University of Chicago refuses to be your safe space from new ideas. The University of Chicago’s acceptance letter for the incoming class of 2020 is more than that— it’s a declaration of academic freedom. The college’s Dean of Students Jay Ellison used the letter to welcome students and reclaim the definition of college. An education at the University of Chicago is not about “safe spaces” and “trigger warnings,” he wrote, but “rigorous debate, discussion…disagreement,” and even occasional “discomfort.”

This daring correspondence begins:

A letter from the University of Chicago’s dean of students to the incoming students of the class of 2020 has been making the rounds on social media the past few days. Its purpose, I guess, was to let those students know they were in for a real education. More of a full-on broadside than a welcome letter, the dean let the incoming students know that the university is totally committed to academic freedom and "freedom of expression" from its faculty and students.

University of Chicago class of 2020, get ready for a college experience filled with debate, discussion — and possibly discomfort.