(OPINION) ETH – Resident advisers at Western Carolina University have been advised not to use words like Christmas or Easter because they are not inclusive holidays and could be deemed offensive.
Instead, Western Carolina wants its students to choose phrases like happy holidays to be more inclusive. “Love them, very creative,” she initially responded. “One thing I do want to let you keep in mind – inclusive excellence is a part of our creed so we can’t assume that all of our residents celebrate Easter so when you were actually talking about Easter eggs,
I’m like, ‘like what Marvel has, like Easter eggs in a movie or something, or in a video game?’ So, I thought something along those lines,” a leader said in a video conference. “But you can do – or a scavenger hunt – you can hide things in the building. So, even during the holidays, we can’t say Christmas or specific to one religious holiday.
We always say ‘happy holidays’ just because we have to be inclusive here at Western.” According to the report, The university defended the policy – stating that it had not officially banned the words but they don’t want students using the words. Again – for the sake of diversity and inclusion.
