When it comes to moral relativism, the University of Kansas is discarding all pretenses.
“I believe nobody is wrong, they are only different,” so says a pledge distributed to participants in the school’s “Safe Zone” training program. The full 28-line pledge for “allies” is divided into four sections titled, “I believe,” “I will,” “I challenge you,” and “I promise you,” and asks students to agree with sentiments more appropriate for kindergarten classes like, “I will label bottles, not people,” and “I will grow antennas not horns.”
Young America’s Foundation (my previous employer) uncovered the pledge as part of its “Censorship Exposed” project that monitors efforts to silence conservatives at public colleges and universities. The organization also published additional materials from KU’s “Safe Zone” training, including a “Gender Unicorn” the school (and others) uses to illustrate various identities, an LGBTQIA terminology guide, an explainer on privilege and oppression, and a pronoun guide.
The voluntary training is facilitated by KU’s Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity in partnership with the Office of Multicultural Affairs. On its website, the university describes “Safe Zone” as “an educational program that will help educate both the campus and greater Lawrence community in order to create a safer, more civil community for all individuals, particularly those of sexuality and/or gender minorities.”
“The purpose of this program,” the school says, “is to reduce homophobia, transphobia, and heterosexism on our campus to make KU a safer and freer environment for all members of our community, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.”
That a public institution of higher education is instructing students to fully embrace moral relativism and agree “nobody is wrong, they are only different,” is, at least, a transparent admission of academia’s current governing philosophy. Unfortunately, however, that philosophy is affecting the way a generation of young people see the world — and taxpayers are funding it.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
