The article errs in carelessly mixing real trauma with much lighter stuff, though it makes a valid point that reacting to both the same is bullshit, and people who can't endure opposing viewpoints and react to them like trauma are likely to have a very hard time in the adult world. But you err also, in focusing only on that end of the piece, ignoring the other half.

Part of being an adult is dealing with the fact that you're the one responsible for yourself. No one else is. And understanding that because no one really runs the world, you're very much on your own out there. If someone says or does something mean to you, it's up to you to deal with that, and you can't go run to a safe room next door where you'll be coddled like a small child until the Bad Thing goes away or whatever. You have to face that shit, and deal with it. And it's hard. Sometimes it's really hard.

If you've made it as far as a place like Brown and can't emotionally handle academically presented material that strongly conflicts with your own perspective -- maybe even attacks it -- then you are not prepared to live in the adult world. And won't be, until you can.

I used to live around there, and I knew a lot of Brown grads and undergrads. And more than a few were like that. And more than a few somehow made it through without ever really growing up, and now they have buckets of personal problems because of it.

The event described was not a class, and no one was forced to attend. Where are you getting that? Discussion about classes is about the presentation of a variety of perspectives, some of which are almost certain to clash with your own. That's part of the college experience, and part of growing up. You seem to be confusing that with the actual trauma you refer to. I sure hope you don't mean to suggest that being confronted with other people's viewpoints is any kind of 'trauma'. If it is, then you're not ready for the world.