Intolerance on Campus

News broke on October 5 that Emerson College took punitive action against the school’s Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter for distributing stickers critical of the Chinese Communist Party. The stickers prominently featured a hammer and sickle and read, “China Kinda Sus” — a reference to the popular online game Among Us in which players seek to guess who the enemy is (in the game, “sus” is slang/shorthand for “suspect” or “suspicious”). Nevertheless, Emerson’s Interim President William Gilligan came out swinging against the student group, writing in a letter that the stickers were “inconsistent with the College’s values and will not be tolerated on our campus.” He continued: “At this time in particular, when there has been a rise in anti-Asian sentiment, it is important to denounce all instances of anti-Asian bigotry and hate, and affirm our support and solidarity with the Asian and Asian-American community on campuses and around the world.” Criticizing the oppressive government of China is not racist! Gilligan went on to declare that reports of the on-campus activity had been “referred to the Office of Community Standards and Student Conduct and the College will initiate an investigation.” “Our organization faces removal from campus and all our board members face potential disciplinary action by the school,” TPUSA-Emerson President Sam Neves told The College Fix. “As an international student, some of those disciplinary actions could get me deported out of the United States.” In a video posted on Twitter, TPUSA-Emerson Vice President Kjersten Lynum stated, “The sticker intends to criticize the Chinese government, the regime responsible for the largest genocide in the world right now.” She went on to share that her relatives are from China and Singapore, and is “offended that people would suggest I have hatred towards my own race.” Emerson College purports to hold freedom of speech in the highest regard. Its “Statement on Freedom of Expression” says that preservation of speech “is not only a right but a community responsibility.” Emerson College needs to stand by its stated support for freedom of speech and stop its disciplinary actions against Turning Point USA for criticizing the oppressive government of China. Tell Emerson College Interim President William Gilligan to stop his foolish attack on Turning Point USA! Update (March 17, 2022): Emerson College has derecognized the school’s Turning Point USA chapter — but all  is not lost! Please continue to send messages to the university’s Interim President William Gilligan asking him to reverse the decision and provide Emerson’s TPUSA club with the charter it deserves.

Want to have a wild picnic with your tribe? According to Brandeis University, three of the words in that sentence constitute “oppressive language” that should not be used. We could have used a trigger warning, but that isn’t allowed either according to Brandies because “The word ‘trigger’ has connections to guns for many people.” These are just a few examples from an absurd catalog of off-limits language labeled the “Oppressive Language List” on Brandeis’ website telling students what words and phrases to avoid lest they “perpetuate oppression.” Join NTC in calling on Brandeis to take down this bizarre list that does a severe disserve to the students coming to them for education! The list has five sections: violent language (“trigger warning,” “take a stab at,” “picnic”), identity-based language (“congressman,” “walk-in,” “crazy”), language that doesn’t say what we mean (“victim,” “abusive relationship”), culturally appropriative language (“tribe,” “spirit animal”), and person-first alternatives (“addict,” “homeless person”). The absurdity is self-evident. Can students not say “picnic table”? If “trigger warning” is out because of violent imagery, can a chemistry student not say that a certain process “triggers a reaction?” If Brandeis is concerned about gendered words or words with loose ties to slavery, why is it handing out Bachelors’ and Masters’ degrees? A footer on the Oppressive Language List website ominously declares, “This list will grow and change all the time,” and encourages students to “share additional suggestions” that can be added to the compilation of prohibited words. In other words: the rules will keep changing, the list of restricted words will only get larger, and the madness will never end. In a section describing its English major, Brandeis’ website says, “The study of English is an astonishingly rich and varied field. English spans history, from the Middle Ages to the present day. It spans geography, taking on different shapes in English-speaking cultures around the world.” This is exactly right. English has adopted words and phrases from many backgrounds, and many words have multiple meanings. Brandeis claims to teach English majors to “write skillfully and stylishly.” Students simply cannot do that if they must omit every word for which someone could potentially be offended. Brandeis students pay a cool $73,100 a year for their education. They deserve better than runaway political correctness that teaches them to be poor communicators who see oppression around every corner. Use the form on this page to send a message to Program Director Sarah Berg telling her to end this oppressively silly list! Update (06/29/21): Brandeis has removed the word “picnic” from their list.

After nearly 700 of you sent emails, the University of San Diego (USD) Law School has formally dropped a disciplinary investigation of a professor after falsely accusing him of spreading anti-Asian sentiment on campus. On March 10, Professor Tom Smith published a post on his personal blog about China’s handling of COVID-19 that includes the sentence: “If you believe that the coronavirus did not escape from the lab in Wuhan, you have to at least consider that you are an idiot who is swallowing whole a lot of Chinese cock swaddle.” Smith was clearly referring to the Chinese Government, not people of Chinese descent. His statement may be crude and controversial, but not racist. Yet USD responded by sending out a statement decrying the blog post’s “bias” and “disparaging language,” lumping it in with “harassment… epithets, derogatory comments, or slurs based on race or national origin.” It then launched an investigation into his actions. Nearly two months later, USD Law dropped the investigation, and Provost Gail F. Baker released the following statement: As a threshold matter, we sought to determine whether the blog post at issue was protected by our policy on academic freedom. After a thorough legal review, it was determined that the expression was protected by that policy. This conclusion in no way amounts to an endorsement by the university of the opinions shared in the blog post. Academic freedom lies at the core of the mission of the University of San Diego. At the same time, we are committed to providing an educational environment that honors the dignity of every individual. Those two commitments can and must co-exist.  The New Tolerance Campaign is glad to see that USD Law ultimately came to the right decision and proud of the activists who helped make it happen. However, USD’s decision to attack Prof. Smith and label his comments racist was unacceptable in the first place, especially for an institution training future lawyers and judges. The NTC team will keep a close eye on USD moving forward to ensure they uphold their stated principles of academic freedom.