Faculty members and the outside world believed that Oberlin College went unnecessarily far in attempting to protect students from emotional harm by asking professors to include "trigger warnings" before potentially upsetting material. The problem, argued many, was that virtually anything could be construed as a trigger and that college shouldn't be so censored. As a result, Oberlin has temporarily ended the policy they established in February, pending further faculty review, Inside Higher Ed reported.

"This section of the resource guide is currently under revision, after thoughtful discussion on campus suggested that some changes could make the guide more useful for faculty," Meredith Raimondo, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and co-chair of the Sexual Offense Policy Task Force, said in an email referring to the trigger policy. "As the resource guide has always stated, the task force values both academic freedom and support for survivors of sexualized violence. We do not see these as contradictory projects, but rather that both are necessary to create an appropriately challenging and effective learning environment."

Though the policy wasn't mandatory and was more of a recommendation, faculty members were still upset by its presence. They were also upset that the school didn't include them more in discussions leading to its creations. The controversial policy below:

"Triggers are not only relevant to sexual misconduct, but also to anything that might cause trauma," the policy said. "Be aware of racism, classism, sexism, heterosexism, cissexism, ableism, and other issues of privilege and oppression. Realize that all forms of violence are traumatic, and that your students have lives before and outside your classroom, experiences you may not expect or understand."

Critics on both sides of the issue remain. Those in favor argue against the notion that trigger warnings would force professors to create "two syllabi," as Oberlin Professor Marc Belcher said. Rather, they could be subtlety placed before assigned readings.