In apparent fear of potential backlash from hypersensitive, politically correct people on campus, administrators at one Ivy League university have taken action to prevent their campus dining facilities from offering certain cultural food options during Black History Month.
Last year, employees at Penn Hillel’s Falk Dining Commons decided to celebrate Black History Month by cooking and offering students a variety of dishes featuring southern cuisine. This year, however, any dishes featuring southern influence will not be included in the menu options for students during the month of February, a decision made by university officials.
According to the Daily Pennsylvanian, Penn Hillel administrators intervened in the menu planning for the month of February out of apparent desire to avoid any potential backlash from students who may find such menus offensive, especially during a month designed to honor the contributions of the African-American community. While university officials justified their decision on the basis of ensuring they are not accidentally offending anyone, employees at Penn Hillel’s Falk Dining Commons wondered if the only people who were really offended were the school officials themselves.
“They didn’t really give me a reason,” said Troy Harris, a Falk Dining chef since 2000. “They just told me they had to reach out to other people and they didn’t want to offend nobody, but I feel like the only ones feeling offended is us.”
The decision to influence the on-campus menu options during Black History Month was likely influenced by a backlash from students at New York University last February, in which university officials were forced to apologize after campus dining facilities featured a special Black History Month menu with barbecue ribs, corn bread, collard greens, Kool-Aid, and watermelon-flavored water.
In response to the outpouring of criticism following the menu offerings, NYU terminated two employees, the dining hall’s general manager and head cook, both of whom are white men, after it was revealed that they only consulted African-American co-workers on the food offerings and made their own decision to add the two beverage offerings.
John Patrick (@john_pat_rick) is a graduate of Canisius College and Georgia Southern University. He interned for Red Alert Politics during the summer of 2012 and has continued to contribute regularly.
