The University of Minnesota would like its students to know that Christmas, and all the decor that usually accompanies it, is not politically correct enough and therefore banned.
According to the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Minnesota, Christmas trees, Menorahs, and the colors red, green, silver, and blue are inappropriate for college campuses. Only decor that looks like “winter celebration” was allowed at the University’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences recent “Respecting Religious Diversity” event.
Yes, you read that right. A “religious diversity” event tamped down on any decorations having to do with Christmas or Hanukkah. Interesting use of the word “diversity.”
Because of this, Becket, (a religious liberty, nonprofit legal organization) is honoring these folks with the 2017 Ebenezer Award, bestowed upon the organization which provides “the most ridiculous affront to the Christmas and Hanukkah season.”
Their reward? An actual lump of coal.
Previous winners include the American Humanist Association, which tried to stop schools from sending care packages to children in need, and the Department of Veteran Affairs, which banned employees at its Salem, Va., facility from saying “Merry Christmas” to veterans. In a statement, Becket Executive Director Montse Alvarado said, “It makes little sense to celebrate religious diversity by banning any sense of actual holiday celebration. And what do they have against color schemes, are we living in communist Cuba?”
This is especially not surprising coming from my home state of Minnesota, a place where Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, and Jesse Ventura call home. The unfunny, uber-liberal Sen. Al Franken, who is suddenly still residing in office following sexual harassment allegations and apologies for said claims, also hails from the North Star state. My parents recently went and saw “A Christmas Carol” performed at the local Guthrie Theater there in St. Paul, and were not surprised to see the director, who is typically different every year, had put her own politically-correct spin on it, which included a gay kiss and interracial marriages in aspects of the play, an undoubtedly rare thing in Charles Dickens’ 19th-century England. But who needs facts when political correctness is at stake?
Although it’s absurd that bureaucrats insist on scrubbing the public square of any religious references, this has been increasingly common at universities, which is even more dangerous than other institutions, because this is where young people solidify a lot of their socio-economic, religious, and political beliefs. If political correctness is king on campus, they will often embrace the idea and lobby for it to remain in schools, churches, workplaces, and the like.
The University of Minnesota deserves a lump of coal for squashing Christmas spirit and infringing upon the free speech rights of their own students in favor of a moment of political correctness that is as liberal and unconstitutional as it is absurd.
Nicole Russell is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist in Washington, D.C., who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota. She was the 2010 recipient of the American Spectator’s Young Journalist Award.
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