No Cowboys for Halloween on UT Campus?

We've heard of political correctness gone amok with various bands on costumes because someone objects for one reason or the other.  A cottage industry in the media has popped up feigninh outrages at every single suggestion of PC speech codes which may cross a news writer's desk or web browser.

FOXNews commentator Todd Starnes, a regular trafficker in this kind of story since his days with religious publishing, heard about it from a right-leaning student news website. The conservative site itself shares a document from the student life department at UT. And yes, what they assert is exactly what's going on.

The guidelines circulated by the University go even further than the cowboys vs. Indians theme. They suggest you can't even wear anything in Hawaiian culture while using a phrase like "Lei'd."

Oh come on! A sexy double entendre is off-limits? This is college for goodness sake.

The university offers some very safe suggestions. If I were in college, I consider my intelligence duly insulted.

Where Starnes is a little off base is promulgating the idea of an outright prohibition.  Nowhere on the UT flyer is it mentioned that certain themes are "banned." Nor is it mentioned which penalties will reign down from above on those who go against the grain... but it's very clear with examples what the powers that be considered offensive. The fact that they printed the flyer to begin with just goes to show this has been the subject of much handwringing and teeth gnashing. If the University thought it important enough to print up a flyer with guidelines, you can bet they'll think it's their duty to make an example of someone or some organization that dared to test their suggestions.

The tone of the document is a bit condescending to adults.  But that could be me: I always bristled at the authoritarian impulses of the in loco parentis-empowered university staff. It's so much nicer being an adult when there's nobody looking over our shoulder when we behave like children. That's the way it should be!