By Victor Skinner
The University of Florida wants students to know that if they’re offended or scared by Halloween, there’s counselors on hand to walk them through the traumatic experience.
“October brings fall weather and Halloween,” the university wrote in a blog titled “Halloween Costume Choices” posted to its website Monday.
“If you choose to participate in Halloween activities, we encourage you to think about your choices of costumes and themes. Some Halloween costumes reinforce stereotypes of particular races, genders, cultures, or religions,” it continues. “Regardless of intent, these costumes can perpetuate negative stereotypes, causing harm and offense to groups of people.”
The university then urges students to keep their costumes in check in the name of inclusion and diversity.
“The University of Florida’s Division of Student Affairs Diversity and Social Justice Statement reminds us that UF fosters a community that values and respects diversity,” the blog read. “An inclusive definition of diversity recognizes the variety of personal and social experiences that make individuals and communities different from one another.”
Also, for those traumatized by politically incorrect Halloween costumes, school counselors and the UF “Bias Education and Response Team” is standing by.
“As a community, we aspire to demonstrate integrity, respect, and compassion that strives to maintain an affirming campus climate for all members of our community,” according to the website. “If you are troubled by an incident that does occur, please know that there are many resources available. Please take advantage of the 7 day a week presence of the U Matter, We Care program … by emailing umatter@ufl.edu. Additionally, there is a 24/7 counselor I the Counseling and Wellness Center available to speak by phone at 352-932-1575.
“Lastly, the Bias Education and Response Team at the University of Florida is able to respond to any reported incidents of bias, to educate those that were involved, and to provide support by connecting those that were impacted to the appropriate services and resources.”
UF isn’t the only college taking the hyper-sensitive approach to Halloween costumes.
The University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse plans to host a seminar this evening titled “Is Your Costume Racist?” in Centennial Hall’s Hall of Nations, The American Mirror reports.
The event is put on by the Ethnic and Racial Studies Department, which has also offered students classes on white privilege theory and other important topics, like “Food and Race in the United States.”
The school’s far-left perspective on race and gender seems to be accepted and embraced by many UWL students.
Just last month, a student filed a complaint with UWL’s “Hate Response Team” over a Harry Potter mural in a college dorm he claimed made him “very upset” because it “represents our ideal society and everything that I am trying to fight against,” the student wrote, according to Fox News.
The site reports:
The mural, in the Laux Residence Hall, depicts Neville Longbottom, a character from the Harry Potter films. The nerdy Neville was played by actor Matthew Lewis, who blossomed into a notable hunk post-puberty. The mural shows him as both a geeky boy and an attractive young man — transformed, according to the mural’s caption, by a stay at the Laux Residence Hall itself.
“It represents white power. Man power. Cis power. Able power. Class power. ECT [sic] ect. I am angry that I know the people who put this mural up, and I am anger [sic] because I know the people who let this mural be put up,” the student wrote. “Like I said earlier, maybe I am being a little sensitive, but it is how I feel. This represents, to me, our society, and I do not want it up on this wall. Why do we need a BEFORE and AFTER?”
The UWL Hate Response Team has also launched investigations into sidewalk chalk on campus that simply read “Trump,” “Build the wall,” and “All Lives Matter” because the phrases are considered “hostile,” the Mirror reports.