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University of Maine official thinks candy canes are prohibited religious symbols

People take their candy canes seriously.

The University of Maine is in damage-control mode after the head of auxiliary services told his staff “not to decorate any public areas with Christmas or any other religious themed decorations” like Christmas trees, wreaths, Christmas presents or candy canes, the Bangor Daily News says.

The official said in the email that “plain trees without presents” and decorative lights that are “not on trees” are fine.

A report by WABI TV started the furor when it said that wreaths, Christmas trees and Santas had been removed from the campus, pointing to the staff email as the apparent culprit.

Those trees were part of a fraternity fundraiser that had concluded and their removal was not related to the email, according to the Daily News.

The school is now at pains to show how much it loves the Christmas season:

“We want to be absolutely clear that at the University of Maine, we welcome every faith tradition, and we welcome displays of those faith traditions,” said [Dean of Students Robert] Dana [in a press release]. “The university is a place where, indeed, there is a great deal of diversity and that’s what we want and expect.” …

The outside of Memorial Union, where [Alpha Tau Omega philanthropy chairman Connor] Scott and Dana addressed a throng of media Thursday morning, was covered with holiday wreaths.

“I can confidently tell you that there are thousands of people at UMaine today saying ‘Merry Christmas’ to thousands of other people,” Dana said.

The school doesn’t appear to have responded to another claim in the WABI TV report: “Employees in the student bookstore say they were told not to use the phrase, ‘Merry Christmas.’”

Read the WABI TV and Daily News reports.

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About the Author
Associate Editor
Greg Piper served as associate editor of The College Fix from 2014 to 2021.