What would you do with $15,000? Invest it? Buy a car? Maybe fund a scholarship for a needy student? The University of Maryland chose none of those things. Instead, UMD officials spent 15k to fight “non-inclusive language” on campus, according to a report by higher-ed watchdog group, Campus Reform.
The University of Maryland (UMD) allocated $15,000 in 2012 to combat the use of language deemed by administrators to be “insensitive.”
The “words have power” campaign’s goal is to deploy posters, buttons and other promotional materials to help foster an environment on campus that is not offensive to illegal aliens, homosexuals, or other minority groups.
“Non-inclusive language can offend or make spaces uncomfortable for people who are excluded by that language,” one of the campaign posters reads.
“It is easy to accidentally use offensive language, but since you could just as easily be on the receiving end of such language, you should try to ensure that you are not offending others with the words and phrases you use,” it adds.
One sign tells students to avoid using the phrase “that’s so ghetto” and substitute the term with words like “grimey,” “wack,” or “messed up.”
15 grand for this? Yeah, that’s messed up alright.
By the way, according to the the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, the state of Maryland experienced a $1.4 billion budget shortfall in 2012. Yet the state’s flagship public university nevertheless found the extra money to wage war against “non-inclusive” words.
Read the full story at Campus Reform.
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Image Source: Pen Waggener / Wikimedia Commons
