Whatever you do at work, do not tell a married woman that her husband is handsome and that they should have children.
That could get you fired.
At least if you work at Boston University.
In yet another example of wokeness gone wild, Boston University is now forcing faculty and students to go through a mandatory Title IX training course. Faculty who fail to take the course will be ineligible for raises, and students who fail to take the course will not be allowed to register for spring classes.
One of the training scenarios raises the following hypothetical: “You’re in the cafeteria with two colleagues, Jessica and Kim, who is Asian. Jessica sees Kim’s phone background. It’s a picture of her and her husband. Jessica says, “Oooh, your husband’s White? He’s good-looking! You two have to have lots of babies. … Half-Asian babies are the cutest!”
The course then asks: “What should you do? 1) Say nothing. Jessica is giving Kim a compliment, and besides, Kim smiled. 2) Intervene. Kim might have felt uncomfortable about Jessica making comments about her race, her husband’s appearance, or the prospect of having children.”
The correct answer in this day and age is, of course, “intervene.” The course explains, “Sometimes, even something intended as a compliment can be derogatory or make someone uncomfortable, even if they smile.”
Now, granted, “half-Asian babies are the cutest” is cringe-inducing. It is not something anyone should say in any context, even if it is meant in the best possible way.
But calling someone else’s husband attractive? Suggesting a happily married couple should have children? These are now worthy of “intervention”?
It’s bad enough that universities are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on staff to design and implement such training. But the training itself isn’t making learning environments any more productive or welcoming. Instead, all it does is put every on edge, always ready to be the next accused or accuser. Let’s lighten up. Intentions do matter. Let’s give people the benefit of the doubt and be generous in our interactions instead of running to the campus woke police.
