The most recent case comes out of Penn State University as they roll out their "Strategies for Inclusive Classrooms Workshop." Professors are being asked to use "inclusive teaching" and are provided a checklist to use in class to ensure they do not display any microaggressions. It is a result of alleged concerns over "implicit bias and stereotype threats" some students have claimed to experience.
According to The College Fix, this comes at the behest of President Eric Barron, who heard “similar concerns consistently from multiple student groups.” He urged the Commission on Racial/Ethnic Diversity to generate the strategies as part of a broad response to those concerns “so all students and faculty can feel respected in Penn State classrooms.” (RELATED: Get all the news Google doesn't want you to read at Censored.news)
The checklist, which Professors can download from Penn State's Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence website has 53 points including:
- Avoid assuming the gender of any student
- Avoid religious holidays when scheduling tests.
- Avoid expressing racially charged political opinions.
- Do not assume all students speak English fluently.
- Do not ask or expect students to represent an entire group, either by look or by request.
- Allow students to accumulate grade points in a variety of ways.
- Assign group membership randomly. Do not allow students to choose their own groups.
- Use a variety of teaching methods; do not rely solely on lectures and didactic questions.
- Allow students to work on projects that explore their own social identities.
Professors are also advised to “use visuals that do not reinforce stereotypes, but do include diverse participants” and to “analyze the content of your examples, analogies, and humor” to ensure they don’t “ostracize students.”
Spencer Brown, a spokesman for Young America's Foundation, sees the list as akin to speech codes. He told The College Fix, “implicit bias includes microaggressions, according to the Penn State report, but these microaggressions are simply made-up words used by the Left to silence and intimidate conservatives. It’s ironic that leftists are so concerned with promoting tolerance and preventing bias when the biggest purveyor of bias and intolerance is the Left."
Brown also stated “it is clear to me that this standard would be used almost exclusively against conservative students. Conservatives are falsely dubbed ‘racist’ by leftists for supporting school choice, the right to life, or even just observing the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.”
This is not the first time Penn State has made headlines for nanny state, politically correct actions. A little over a year ago the faculty asked students to report microaggressions to administrators, no matter how small or inconsequential the perceived act may be.
Lisa Powers, director of Penn State’s strategic communications office, said in an email to The College Fix that the school, "stands firmly behind free speech and free expression, even in those instances when the views being expressed are disturbing or insulting, or the actions hurtful. The First Amendment doesn’t just apply to those who express ideas with which we agree. It also applies to those whose ideas we may find challenging, repugnant or even appalling. By providing an outlet for individuals to report bias they have seen or experienced, we are giving them an equal right to express their thoughts and feelings on the matter.”
Colleges continue to do a disservice to their students with initiatives like this. If whining about micro-aggressions continues to be drilled into the brains of newer generations, it will be the undoing of society. Parents and taxpayers need to take a stand to ensure that public, state-funded colleges like Penn State do not get away with this by demanding that Social Justice Warriors be stopped, or the money will stop. Everyone knows liberals don't stand a chance if they have to rely on their own money.
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