Thought police on the prowl at University of Michigan, where students are taught which words they can never say

(NaturalNews) Millions of Americans know that the nation's colleges and universities are cesspools of political correctness, where students are subject to strict thought and speech codes by hypocrites who claim that they are among the most "tolerant" people in the country.

But the University of Michigan's thought police have taken this absurdity to a new level, actually instructing the student body on exact phrases they can and cannot utter, at least while on campus.

As reported by education news website The College Fix, the so-called "Inclusive Language Campaign" kicked off recently in the form of scores of posters being plastered all over the campus, filled with words and phrases that students should not say, lest they hurt others' feelings -- at a cost of $16,000.

The College Fix went on to describe some of those words and phrases:

Words declared unacceptable through the campaign include "crazy," "insane," "retarded," "gay," "tranny," "gypped," "illegal alien," "fag," "ghetto" and "raghead." Phrases such as "I want to die" and "that test raped me" are also verboten.

"No, this isn't stifling free speech"

In an email exchange with the website, U of M spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said the campaign was important to "address campus climate by helping individuals understand that their words can impact someone and to encourage individuals to commit to creating a positive campus community."

It wasn't clear whether Fitzgerald had ever heard of the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment, or if he'd ever read the Constitution, but it would have been a worthy question to ask.

Anyway, as The College Fix reported, students are being asked to sign a pledge to "use inclusive language," according to campaign materials -- whatever "inclusive language" means.

The Inclusive Language Campaign has only existed for a single semester thus far, but its presence on campus has been extraordinarily strong and pervasive throughout the university. Like Nazi or Soviet indoctrination, wherever students roam they encounter posters of all sizes that remind them, "YOUR WORDS MATTER." The posters also ask questions like, "If you knew that I grew up in poverty, would you still call things 'ghetto' and 'ratchet'?"

Not surprisingly, no one from the campaign felt the need to explain it or themselves; The College Fix reported that repeated requests for comment were ignored by representatives of the campaign.

But other media venues -- presumably those sympathetic to the cause -- managed to score some comments. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, U of M junior Kidada Malloy, who is a campus promoter of the campaign, said it "is a great program because it will improve the day-to-day language of students on campus by providing education around words that are offensive."

Apparently she never had to explain just who is responsible for deciding which words are "offensive" and in what context, and why they came to their conclusions about certain words and phrases. Then again, Michigan Daily prefaced its story here with this notice: "This article is part of a Michigan Daily effort to increase coverage of issues related to diversity, inclusion and identity on campus."

Political opponents don't get the same treatment

In his email, Fitzgerald said the university decided to budget $16,000 for the campaign, but as The College Fix noted, the campaign comes at a time when the university has raised tuition and other fees for each of the past two years.

"This program is intended to be educational, not regulatory," Fitzgerald said of the campaign. "We hope there is only the understanding that we all participate in, and have the power to influence campus culture."

Asked if Fitzgerald believes such a campaign stifles free speech, he actually said in response, "we believe this program has just the opposite effect."

As conservative, Christian students and campus Republican groups will tell you, no such campaign of "education," tolerance and understanding ever addressed the vitriol aimed at them, both by other students and, in many cases, by professors and academic staff. See here, here, here and here, for starters.

Sources:

http://www.thecollegefix.com

http://www.michigandaily.com

http://campusreform.org

http://ncronline.org

http://dailyprincetonian.com