Colleges Deploy PC Police to Catch Halloween Offenders

College students beware — the political correctness police could be coming for you, your Halloween costumes, and even your jobs this year.

The University of Florida sent out a memo Monday that encouraged its students to report any “incidents of bias” they encounter when classmates wear controversial or provocative costumes to Halloween activities. Administrators warn costumes could “reinforce stereotypes of particular races, genders, cultures, or religions,” and encouraged offended students to submit their bias incident reports to campus officials.

 “Each and [every] single Halloween, [a] student’s ethnicity, race, and culture is mocked, stereotyped, and racially depicted.”

“Regardless of intent, these costumes can perpetuate negative stereotypes, causing harm and offense to groups of people,” the memo reads. “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.”

The memo also made sure to point any students who are “troubled by an incident” to the many resources the university has available to them. These resources include the presence of the “U Matter, We Care” program on campus, the option of requesting counseling services, and the utilization of the Bias and Education Response Team.

“Thank you for being mindful of these values, and have a fun and safe Halloween,” the memo concludes.

The University of Florida is just one of many campuses prepping for an apocalyptic Halloween night of political correctness violations.

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Penn State’s University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) approved the “We’re a Culture Not a Costume” campaign resolution in late September to discourage potentially inappropriate Halloween costumes. The campaign displays posters across campus featuring students from various ethnic groups detailing costumes they feel disrespect their backgrounds or cultures.

“When individuals ‘dress up’ in a culture’s traditional wear during Halloween, they are disregarding and dehumanizing the history, value, and meaning of these traditional articles,” UPUA Director of Communications Logan Echard told Campus Reform. “Each and [every] single Halloween, [a] student’s ethnicity, race, and culture is mocked, stereotyped, and racially depicted.”

Echard added that the campaign was geared toward helping students who “don’t realize how offensive it is to different ethnicities of other students when you make a [mockery] out of their heritage.”

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And in early October, the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse held an event called, “Is Your Halloween Costume Racist?” for those students who feared the consequences of allowing potentially insensitive and inappropriate Halloween costumes to exist on campus.

“One of UWL’s stated values is that of diversity, equity, and inclusion of all people and perspectives, and this event reflected that by providing the audience with an opportunity to consider the possible effects of actions, or the actions and reactions of others,” Timothy Gongaware, interim chairman of the Department of Ethnic and Racial Studies, told The Daily Beast.

One of the most infamous Halloween PC instances occurred last year at Yale University’s Silliman College, when enraged student protesters demanded that Professor Nicholas Christakis and his wife, Erika, the college’s associate master, step down from their positions after Erika sent an email criticizing the school’s Halloween costumes warning.

Yale administrators had advised the students to avoid “culturally unaware or insensitive choices.” Although Erika insisted that she did not “wish to trivialize genuine concerns about cultural and personal representation,” she explained her frustration in an email.

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“Is there no room anymore for a child or young person to be a little bit obnoxious … a little bit inappropriate or provocative or, yes, offensive?” Erika wrote. “In other words: Whose business is it to control the forms of costumes of young people? It’s not mine, I know that.”

“Have we lost faith in young people’s capacity — in your capacity — to exercise self-censure, through social norming, and also in your capacity to ignore or reject things that trouble you?” Erika added. “Nicholas says, if you don’t like a costume someone is wearing, look away, or tell them you are offended. Talk to each other. Free speech and the ability to tolerate offence are the hallmarks of a free and open society.”

Both Christakises no longer hold their positions with Silliman College.