Virginia Professors Infantilize Students and Selves Over Trump Win

If you think university students are learning to be adults in the real world, think again.

Professors at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, decided to baby their students—and themselves—in the wake of Donald Trump’s second presidential victory by canceling in-person classes due to the stress the presidential election may have wrought.

That’s right, Virginia. Your taxpayer dollars are going toward students not going to class and professors not showing up to their jobs.

Screenshots shared with The Daily Signal show some professors sent out messages to students informing them that their educational time was canceled to allow them to “alleviate some post-election stress.”

Jeff Mann, associate professor in the Department of English, told his students he is going to be in “recluse mode for a few days” since the election results left him “thoroughly disgusted.” He also canceled class because his back hurts.

Mann, the author of “The Sagas of Mann: Erotic Viking Tales,” sent that message to his Introduction to Creative Writing class.

The Daily Signal has sought comment from Mann and the other professors whose messages are featured here. None responded as of publication time, including to confirm or deny the messages’ authenticity.

The Daily Signal contacted Virginia Tech directly, asking if these spontaneous class cancellations are allowed in the school’s official guidelines and whether the parents, guardians, or students paying tuition would get a partial refund for the canceled classes. Virginia Tech has not responded as of publication time.

Aside from some professors canceling classes, Virginia Tech’s chapter of the United Feminist Movement hosted a preplanned “de-stress” night featuring yoga and coloring.

An email sent Friday from the Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance also highlighted five articles from left-leaning perspectives on the repercussions of a second Trump victory, including “how American democracy is at a grave risk” under a second Trump administration.

Virginia Tech found itself in hot water last year when the director of its Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Strategic Partnerships used her work email to forward a message slamming local conservative school board candidates as “hateful” and urging recipients to work to get the candidates’ opponents elected.

Instead of encouraging open discussion of diverse ideas in response to the 2024 election results, professors are setting the example that shirking responsibility when life doesn’t go their way is acceptable. 

As a recent graduate of Virginia Tech, the mass hysteria I am personally witnessing from my fellow Hokies on social media is astonishing. It is no surprise that Gen-Z's mental health is failing when the adults entrusted with their education are training them to avoid negative feelings. It is even less of a surprise that, according to Gallup polling, Americans increasingly have little to no confidence in higher education anymore.