Being in a safe space does not necessarily mean that one is hiding from an opinion that one disagrees with. The topic at hand may be a subject that has affected the student personally - i.e., sexual assault - and the student may still be under professional treatment to help them in coping with the post-traumatic stress involved. The discussion at hand may be triggering emotions in the student that are still very raw as the incident might have been recent, so it is better that there is a safe space where the student can go, relax and regroup themselves for the next challenge or assignment that college is presenting to them.