One staff at Western Carolina University is now under fire for prohibiting the use of the words "Easter'' and "Christmas" to refer to the religious holidays because they are "not inclusive."
Per WND, Young America's Foundation obtained a video recording of a conference call between its housing coordinator and resident advisers, which was submitted through the school's bias tip line.
"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," a woman who was the housing coordinator was heard through the line, as reported byWND. "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."
The footage of the video conference call showed a man expressing his approval over Easter ideas provided by the group. When he asked a woman who was the housing coordinator about her thoughts, she proceeded to say that they were "very creative" but continued to prohibit the use of the term "Easter eggs," which is often used to refer to some detail hidden in a film, video game, or media for viewers to find.
She said that she initially thought that the term "Easter eggs" was in reference to the ones found in the Marvel films and was surprised to find that they were in fact talking about Easter eggs used in Easter egg hunts. She even went on to suggest using the term "scavenger hunt" instead of "Easter egg" hunt.
FOX News received a statement from Western Carolina University spokesperson Marlon Morga, who defended the housing coordinator's statements and denied any prohibition on the use of the terms "Easter" or "Christmas" on campus because they're "not inclusive." Morgan admitted that this was in fact a conversation between the female housing coordinator and the resident advisers but refused to disclose if the housing coordinator was an employee of WCU. The incident reportedly happened in the fall season.
Morgan argued that the housing coordinator was merely "suggesting" not to use the terms "Easter" or "Christmas" because "not everyone observes the same religious holidays" and that "we need to be inclusive of everyone." Furthermore, she declared that "WCU hasn't banned any religious terminology, and we have no policies to that effect."
In addition, Morgan said in another statement that "WCU is committed to a diverse and inclusive community that provides an environment in which all can be successful academically and professionally."
"During our training for resident assistants, our [resident advisers] are reminded to be inclusive of all religious views when they are considering programs for students," Morgan said. However, prohibiting the use of the terms "Easter" and "Christmas" and other religious holidays seems rather divisive rather than "inclusive," especially in today's political climate where there is a spike in sensitivity towards religion and gender bias, amongst other issues in the U.S. education department.
