As USD Administration prepares to roll people ‘under-the-bus,’ it appears climate of political correctness was of their own making.

I couldn’t help but laugh ironically at the story coming out of USD via the Argus Leader last night, around the same time that USD’s editing of “Hawaiian Day” into “No Lei Beach Day” made Fox News for it’s ridiculous political correctness.

Because now that the derision heaped upon it has achieved national status, it sure seems that the University of South Dakota is doing their best to shift blame to someone they can expediently roll under the bus:

The University of South Dakota will be investigating the actions that led to a student organization renaming an event after it was told holding a “Hawaiian Day” event violates the school’s inclusiveness policy, the university announced Saturday.

USD President Sheila Gestring initiated the investigation, which will focus on the actions of the interim administration of the University of South Dakota School of Law, according to a press release.

and…

“Administrative censorship of student speech and expression is a serious matter and not something USD condones,” the release said, “without compelling justification consistent with Board policy, such as a genuine threat.”

Read it here (and roll your eyes).

So.. the release claims that “Administrative censorship of student speech and expression is a serious matter and not something USD condones?”

But as they prepare to roll someone under the bus and assign blame for what most would consider an overreach, what about the stated policies of the university? Such as the “Inclusive Excellence Vision Statement” that the President of the University herself seems to imply they’re operating under.

While the live site was working last night, but is mysteriously down as I’m writing this post, courtesy of the wayback machine, you can read USD’s policy on Diversity as last captured here:

One of the hallmarks of a great university is its genuine commitment to excellence in research, teaching and service to the community. An Inclusive Excellence (I.E.) university excels in these areas, but also values and practices inclusiveness, social justice and equity as values that are embedded into the heart and soul of the institution. The concept of I.E. (articulated and endorsed by the Association of American Colleges and Universities) moves a university away from a simplistic definition of diversity to a more inclusive, comprehensive and omnipresent notion of inclusiveness; melds inclusiveness and academic excellence into one concept (to practice inclusiveness is excellence); shifts the responsibility for diversity and inclusiveness to everyone on campus as opposed to one unit or department shouldering the responsibility; and moves an institution away from conceptualizing diversity only in terms of a numerical goal of diverse constituents. The focus becomes the transformation of a university into a vibrant community that embeds diversity and inclusiveness throughout the institution, including (but not limited to) demographics (numbers), curriculum, policies, enrollment, pedagogy, financial resources, diverse student learning outcomes, leadership, training, retention, student learning, marketing, technology, teaching, student advising, campus climate communications, administration, recruitment, hiring and promotion and tenure, assessment, institutional advancement and evaluation. I.E. employs abroad and inclusive definition of diversity that includes (but is not limited to) disability, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, religion, disability, race/ethnicity, nationality, veteran status and other important social dimensions that are part of the campus community. In sum, for the purpose of addressing inclusiveness at the University of South Dakota, “Inclusive Excellence is defined as a strategy for transforming USD into an institution that conceptualizes inclusiveness and excellence as one in the same, makes inclusiveness ubiquitous, assigns responsibility for inclusiveness to everyone on campus and utilizes a broad definition of inclusiveness.”

Read that overly long paragraph here.

If you think about it, not any one individual is to blame, but USD’s own policy directives seem to have created this climate of out-of-control political correctness.

By their own statement, it’s threading through practically everything. But of course, now that the spotlight is on them, they have to start an investigation to get to the bottom of the problem, and find someone to blame.

Given that they’re openly making a point to embed overarching policies which people seem to be following to the Nth degree, stifling free speech as well as leis and Hawaiian parties, maybe it’s a good time to point out that the South Dakota legislature has a way to deal with this.

They can recover the free speech bill from the 41st day, and pass a law guaranteeing free speech on our University campuses.

It’s long overdue.