First Lady Michelle Obama gave the commencement address at the Oberlin College Monday and her words may have cut a little too close to home for some of the school’s graduates.

Oberlin, an extremely liberal university, made headlines earlier this year for the way feminist students at Oberlin College treated AEI scholar Christina Hoff Sommers when she lectured on their campus. These students, who claimed to be horrified by Sommers’ theories on the gender wage gap myth and inflated rape statistics, protested her talk and demanded “safe spaces” and “trigger warnings” for her talk.

Obama’s words seemed almost pointed:

“See, the truth is that the overwhelming majority of people in this country are open-minded and big-hearted.  They are smart enough to see through that noise, and they are so hungry for voices that rise above it –- smart, compassionate, thoughtful voices like yours.

Now, the process of democracy might not always be as fast or as smooth as we’d like.  But the fact is, it works.  Generation after generation, this country has become more equal, more inclusive, more fair, more free.  My life and so many of your lives are a testament of that truth.  But that has only happened because folks like all of you left their comfort zones and made their voices heard. “

She went on:

    “And even here at Oberlin, most of the time you’re probably surrounded by folks who share your beliefs.  But out in the real world, there are plenty of people who think very differently than you do, and they hold their opinions just as passionately.  So if you want to change their minds, if you want to work with them to move this country forward, you can’t just shut them out.  You have to persuade them, and you have to compromise with them.  That is what so many of our heroes of history have done.”

Guess you can’t stay in your “safe spaces” forever, Oberlin students.

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