The rule of thumb at this ultra-woke college is, don’t say “rule of thumb.”
Students and faculty at Brandeis University are being urged to stop using words and phrases like “picnic,” “trigger warning” and even “rule of thumb,” because of what a campus counseling service calls their links to violence and power to “reinforce systems of oppression.”
A compendium of “potentially oppressive language” posted on the school’s website by its Prevention, Advocacy and Resource Center also lists loads of examples of “gender exclusive,” “ableist,” and “culturally appropriative” terminology that “can get in the way of meaningful dialogue.”
The “Oppressive Language List,” first reported by Fox News, was developed recently as part of the PARC’s “Response to Anti-Blackness” program and “is always growing based on suggestions from the community,” according to a web page titled “Holding Ourselves Accountable.”
“As a community, we can strive to remove language that may hurt those who have experienced violence from our everyday use,” the PARC says.
“These recommendations for more-neutral language are brought forth by students who have been subject to violence or who have worked with others who are healing from violence, as well as students who have sought out advanced training in intervening in potentially violent situations.”
According to the Oppressive Language List, the word picnic “has been associated with lynchings of Black people in the United States, during which white spectators were said to have watched while eating.”
A suggested alternative is “outdoor eating.”
“Rule of thumb” can be replaced with “general rule” because the former “allegedly comes from an old British law allowing men to beat their wives with sticks no wider than their thumb.”
And when it comes to “trigger warning” – an alert that spoken, written or recorded material may be alarming to certain people, based on their experiences – possible alternatives include “content note.”
“The word ‘trigger’ has connections to guns for many people; we can give the same head’s up using language less connected to violence,” the PARC says.
Former CUNY trustee Jeff Wiesenfeld called the list “idiocy,” “lunacy” and “a disgrace.”
“We’re not talking about the N-word here,” he said.
“It’s a tyranny of the leftist minority to instill fear in people. If you take it to the extreme, you end up with tyranny.”
Wiesenfeld, the son of Holocaust survivors, added: “It’s hurtful that this is happening at Brandeis.”
“Louis Brandeis was one of the first Jewish Supreme Court justices. He would be appalled by this,” he said.
The Oppressive Language List surfaced just weeks after a Brandeis administrator was revealed to have said on social media that “all white people are racist in that all white people have been conditioned in a society where one’s racial identity determines life experiences/outcomes and whiteness is the norm and default.”
“That includes me!” added Kate Slater, assistant dean of Graduate Student Affairs.
Brandeis, which is located outside Boston, last year enrolled about 3,500 undergraduates and 2,000 graduate students, according to its website.
Tuition costs nearly $60,000 a year, and room and board cost an additional $16,450.
In a prepared statement, a Brandeis spokesperson said the Oppressive Language List “was developed by students who have… noted that many people who have experienced violence may be further harmed by the language others use in speaking with them.”
“The list is in no way an accounting of terms that Brandeis students, faculty or staff are prohibited from using or must substitute instead,” spokesperson Julie Jette said.
“It is simply a resource that can be accessed by anyone who wants to consider their own language in an effort to be respectful of others who may have different reactions to certain terms and phrases.”
*story by The New York Post
