University killjoys turn ‘spirit animals’ into politically correct roadkill

Local experts warn that a goofy attempt to ban everything from “housekeeping” to “preferred pronouns” is a sign of things to come at Australian university campuses.

For those who love tales of political correctness gone mad, this story may be your spirit animal.

Only, don’t use the term at the University of Washington in the US, where students and teachers have been given a list of naughty words including, yes, “spirit animal“ that could earn them a spot in the naughty corner – and experts warn the same thing is happening in Australia.

While no data is available on how many man-hours (another banned term) were spent by the school on the guide, according to author Kevin Donnelly the local language police are also looking to undertake housekeeping (banned) on other words they consider lame (whoops, also banned).

Using jersey colours to refer to teams is now problematic at one US university. Picture: Ian Svegovic

“It should not surprise anyone the Orwellian enforcement of politically correct mind control has infected Australian universities,” said Prof Donnelly, who is presently working on an updated version of his book, “A Politically Correct Dictionary”.

“Monash University, the University of NSW and Flinders University have Diversity Toolkits and Inclusivity Guidelines telling academics what to think,” he said.

“Academics are told they should celebrate diversity and difference, be careful not to espouse “heteronormativity” and “heterosexism” or to suggest traditional Aboriginal culture was in any way “primitive”. Academics are also told to describe the arrival of the First Fleet as an “invasion”.”

“Housekeeping”? Also banned. Picture: Alix Sweeney

Prof Donnelly said that for years Australian tertiary institutions have been going down the American path of political correctness, pointing out a number of examples including a guide published by the University of NSW warning professors that “students who see themselves as part of the dominant culture are likely to be resistant to course material that questions existing power relations and privilege.”

At the University of Washington, meanwhile, separating teams with colours like “red”, “white”, or “yellow” is a no-no because they could be based on “racist tropes”.

Students and professors should also avoid the term “preferred pronouns”, because to do so is “problematic” and suggests that “a person’s pronoun is optional”.

The term “minority” is also out, because “when ‘minority’ is used to refer to other races or abilities, used as a generalised term for ‘the other’ and implies a ‘less than’ attitude toward the community or communities being discussed.”

Among other phrases forbidden by the school include the legal term “to grandfather” because it refers to historic efforts to deny African-Americans their rights after the Civil War, “man in the middle” because it is sexist despite not necessarily being a good thing, and even “no can do”, for reasons that were not specified.

Originally published as University killjoys turn ‘spirit animals’ into politically correct roadkill