Washington Free Beacon
That was quick! Just 48 hours after the Washington Free Beacon and the Wall Street Journal shed light on a Stanford University list of “offensive” words and phrases like “American” and “blind study,” the university would like to make a few clarifications.
The university hid its “Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative” behind a login page Monday following widespread public criticism of its effort to purge “potentially harmful” language like “survivor,” “victim,” “blackbox” and “white paper” from university websites. In a letter posted Tuesday evening, the university’s chief information officer Steve Gallagher said the guide “does not represent university policy,” nor “mandates or requirements.”
“We have particularly heard concerns about the guide’s treatment of the term ‘American,'” Gallagher wrote, referring to the blueprint’s assessment that “American” ascribed superiority to people from the United States. “To be very clear, not only is the use of the term ‘American’ not banned at Stanford, it is absolutely welcomed,” he continued.
