Academia, Bizarre, Free Speech

America Theme For College Party Declared “Alienating, Divisive, and Harmful”

unknown-1School officials at Loyola University Maryland pressured student government leaders to drop the “America” theme for their senior class party as “very alienating, divisive and harmful” and against the university’s “core values.” The party was to be one of four celebrations for graduating seniors and the theme was selected by the students themselves but then declared as inappropriate and offensive by university officials.

donovanThe student held their ground and held their America party. University officials warned that they would intervened if students were offended. University Executive Vice President Susan Donovan sent an email to two SGA members claiming she “talked with a number of students and heard from faculty members” about the party. She warned “None of it is positive and it sounds very alienating, divisive and harmful.” She added “I encourage you to reconsider this plan in light of the legitimate concerns raised by so many We have made progress in providing a welcoming climate on campus and do we want to reverse that progress with a theme that divides us?”

Dean of Students Sheilah Horton also objected and suggested that those who wanted an America them were insensitive and had not considered who such a party “provides an opportunity for students to dress or behave in a way that offends or oppresses others.” Horton reportedly said that any offense would be dealt with by the Administration and that the party risked making students and faculty “unsafe.” She even said that the party could drive down applications at the university.

I fail to understand why a theme celebrating America (which is a melting pot of cultures) is insensitive or offensive (though, as we discussed, the use “melting pot” itself has been declared a microaggression). We have been discussing how it often seems that universities are allowing the most sensitive students to dictate speech and symbols that are used on campuses — instead of instilling a sense of acceptance for a pluralistic community of different values.

Nevertheless, the student leaders felt compelled to apologize for a “Party in the USA” theme:

“As an organization, we want to extend our deepest apologies to those that were hurt by this theme and the negative impact it had on them. Although it was not our intention to create such a divisive climate, we understand that the impact of this decision is much greater than our initial intention.”

What do you think?

80 thoughts on “America Theme For College Party Declared “Alienating, Divisive, and Harmful””

  1. Several schools employ that dumbschmuck name: Loyola. Where does that name derive from?

    1. ItalForHitler – St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the order of the Society of Jesus, or more commonly the Jesuits.

  2. Be Loyal: to Canola and not America. Loyola Oil is like Wessen Oil without the can.

  4. Stop federal funding of idiot schools like this.

    Democrats today are dangerous zealots. Their hold on our schools must be destroyed.

  6. I was in college in the seventties. If some administrative dork said crap like this we would have picketed their office and closed the campus. Students today are weenies.

  8. Squeaky, if they looked in the mirror, they’d crack it! Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

  10. Kudos to the students who chose to press forward with their party notwithstanding the admonitions of the college administration. Let’s hope that an increasing number of students follow their lead on campuses across the country and put an end to this nonsense.

  11. TO ALL THE REGULARS AND IRREGULARS OF THR BLOG WE WISH YOU A HAPPY AND HEALTHY THANKSGIVING TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES.
    J Pismo Clam, Wolf J Flywheel, Squirt The Wonder, Wendel Bendel, Egbert Souse’ and all the others of group to numerous to mention and names I have forgotten.

    1. You forgot me – FFS.

      Happy Thanksgiving to all! Please remember to eat way too much.

  12. Maybe they should have instead celebrated Stalinist Russia, which as we all know was very tolerant.

    1. Darren, Or a multicultural Mao regime China, Stalinist Soviet Union, Pol Pot Cambodia, party. This ilk loves multicultural.

  13. What has happened is, that all the racist, homophobic, xenophobic, misogynistic bullsh*t has gotten lodged in the pipes, and now nothing else can get through. The bullsh*t just keeps getting packed deeper and harder.

    Democrats and Liberals should take a real long hard look in the mirror, because these are your people who do stuff like this. It isn’t Republicans or conservatives. And none of this, “I am a liberal but I find this type of thing disgusting!” excuse making. NO. It’s you and your silly ideas and your stubborn refusal to thoughtfully consider anything that does not confirm your own biases. Particularly the bias that you are both intelligent and moral.

    This is interesting. A long read, and I promise Liberal Democrats that this will NOT confirm your biases!

    http://www.city-journal.org/html/real-war-science-14782.html

    Here are two brief excerpts:

    But two huge threats to science are peculiar to the Left—and they’re getting worse.

    The first threat is confirmation bias, the well-documented tendency of people to seek out and accept information that confirms their beliefs and prejudices. In a classic study of peer review, 75 psychologists were asked to referee a paper about the mental health of left-wing student activists. Some referees saw a version of the paper showing that the student activists’ mental health was above normal; others saw different data, showing it to be below normal. Sure enough, the more liberal referees were more likely to recommend publishing the paper favorable to the left-wing activists. When the conclusion went the other way, they quickly found problems with its methodology.

    And that brings us to the second great threat from the Left: its long tradition of mixing science and politics. To conservatives, the fundamental problem with the Left is what Friedrich Hayek called the fatal conceit: the delusion that experts are wise enough to redesign society. Conservatives distrust central planners, preferring to rely on traditional institutions that protect individuals’ “natural rights” against the power of the state. Leftists have much more confidence in experts and the state. Engels argued for “scientific socialism,” a redesign of society supposedly based on the scientific method. Communist intellectuals planned to mold the New Soviet Man. Progressives yearned for a society guided by impartial agencies unconstrained by old-fashioned politics and religion. Herbert Croly, founder of the New Republic and a leading light of progressivism, predicted that a “better future would derive from the beneficent activities of expert social engineers who would bring to the service of social ideals all the technical resources which research could discover.”

    This was all very flattering to scientists, one reason that so many of them leaned left. The Right cited scientific work when useful, but it didn’t enlist science to remake society—it still preferred guidance from traditional moralists and clerics. The Left saw scientists as the new high priests, offering them prestige, money, and power. The power too often corrupted. Over and over, scientists yielded to the temptation to exaggerate their expertise and moral authority, sometimes for horrendous purposes.

    Squeeky Fromm
    Girl Reporter

    2. Yup, you nailed it – all those “isms” have crippled the capacity of critical thinking and analysis for Liberals.

      1. This from someone who claims to be an adherent of one of those isms: progressivism.

    4. Where would the conservatives be without Werner von Braun?
      Where would the conservatives be without Edward Teller?
      No world destroying toys, no power for the faintly endowed neocons.
      Right?

      1. Roscoe P. Coltrane –
        Where would liberals be without Margaret Sanger?
        Where would liberals be without the Tuskegee Study?
        Where would liberals be without Trayvon Martin?

    5. Yes, some on the liberal side have some seriously misguided views on some science subjects. But such problems are not limited to liberals. Climate change denialism, the war on stem cell research, evolution denialism and misrepresentation of the facts about abortion are just a few of the numerous contributions of Republicans/conservatives (and Libertarians) to the war on science.

    6. “It’s you and your silly ideas and your stubborn refusal to thoughtfully consider anything that does not confirm your own biases. Particularly the bias that you are both intelligent and moral.”

      This is a criticism that applies just as accurately to a great many conservatives. You’d realize this if you’d make the effort to unwrap yourself from your own confirmation bias.

  14. Oh balderdash, this is all about providing less rigorous courses for the less gifted applicant. Need I say more ?

  15. “I fail to understand why a theme celebrating America (which is a melting pot of cultures) is insensitive or offensive (though, as we discussed, the use “melting pot” itself has been declared a microaggression). We have been discussing how it often seems that universities are allowing the most sensitive students to dictate speech and symbols that are used on campuses — instead of instilling a sense of acceptance for a pluralistic community of different values.”

    But this is Progressivism. We’ve seen this trend for years. I don’t think you can understand it, but you can predict it. Create divisiveness, impose opinions through force or coercion. If you value patriotism, individual rights, the Constitution as it was written, Free Speech, and are tolerant of diverse religions and political beliefs, then you would not be welcome among Progressives. You’d have to join the Republicans, Libertarians, Independents, Moderate Democrats, and the Hybrids – fiscal conservatives, moderates, centrists, or any other name that differentiates from the quite unfriendly Progressive movement. They have driven more people away from the Fascism of the Extreme Left than they could have done setting it on fire. I know I’ve felt increasingly alienated and disturbed by it, and I viewed politics as a you-like-peas-I-like-carrots sort of thing before Obamacare.

    http://www.jewishjournal.com/dennis_prager/article/when_progressives_value_politics_over_friends_and_family

  16. It all depends on HOW this is presented. If it celebrates only white America, then I too would object. Trump’s election and appeal to white bigotry makes such concerns a valid one. The blanket condemnation is silly though before anything is presented. The administration should have let this one alone and wait and see what transpired.

  18. Excellent comments!

    I believe the post-election fear gripping many in this country is well-founded, but irrationally identified. The fear is based on the fact they created the weaponized government that “may” now be turned against them.

    I doubt these college administrators are concerned about the feelings of their students as much as the legitimate fear these students will do damage to the university and the careers of these administrators.

    1. Olly – Just think – NOW Democrats are going to scramble to rein in the uber Presidency they helped create. All of a sudden “I have a phone and a pen” are not statements to stand behind. They will strengthen the separation of powers. The media will suddenly stop being State Propaganda.

      And that’s a good thing.

      I remember writing over a year ago that they would rue the day they set the precedent for such powers if someone like Trump took office. I never dreamed that would actually happen. I will say that Trump has been bending over backwards to re-unite the country, meeting with all kinds of people who fought with him over the past year. He has not been vengeful.

      Horuss – great comment.

      1. I agree Karen. We’ve walked backwards into a situation where the progressives have had 2 of the 3 legs of their 3-legged stool severely compromised by past administrations and what is perceived to be the future in a Trump administration. Civics ignorance is on the decline, voter apathy has reversed and we’ll see what happens with dependence.

        And that IS a good thing. 🙂

  19. Typical academic world silliness and a very good example of why so many millions of people hold school administrators at every level in contempt. I’m a lefty of longstanding but this weird oversensitivity to the most miniscule slight or possibility thereof is absurd, unenforceable and the sort of thing that causes blowback that really can be offensive and unnecessarily hurtful to some. Grow up folks! You aren’t gonna like everything all the time and may have to endure exposure to people and things and even ideas that challenge you and that you find offensive.

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