CSU official inclusive language guide does not mention “American” despite controversy

Rocky Mountain Collegian ^ | July 19, 2019 | Samantha Ye

[Presbyterian Reporter]

Media outlets have sparked controversy over a draft version of Colorado State University’s inclusive language guide, which recommends avoiding the word “American.”

But despite the ire, the final guide does not mention “America” or “American” at all.

CSU System Chancellor Tony Frank issued an official statement Thursday defending the guide and stating the claims being made about it on social media and in online publications are “untrue and are based on an outdated document.”

“We consider free speech and the First Amendment the foundations of a great American public university,” Frank wrote.

Frank wrote that the official guide was created by an informal group of CSU staff to be used as an internal, free resource for people who wanted help avoiding saying anything unintentionally offensive. It is not meant for student use. It is not an official policy or required practice.

“The guide is not about political-correctness or policing grammar, but rather helping communicators practice inclusive language and helping everyone on our campus feel welcomed, respected and valued,” it reads on the top of the official and draft versions of the guide.

“ The bottom line is that no one is making anyone use this guide, and we have not seen any evidence that this brief guide has had a chilling effect on that climate on our learning environment.” -Tony Frank, CSU System Chancellor

In the draft version of the language guide, the terms “America” and “American” are listed as words to avoid because the “Americas encompass a lot more than the United States.”

“Yet, when we talk about ‘Americans’ in the United States, we’re usually just referring to people from the United States,” the draft guide reads. “This erases other cultures and depicts the United States as the dominant American country.”

The draft recommends using the terms “U.S. citizen” or “person from the U.S.” instead.

That entry never made it into the final guide, however.

“They decided against this on their own and deleted that from the draft before it was ever finalized or circulated to campus,” Frank wrote. “Why that information is being circulated now as current or factual is unclear.”

Conservative news sites such as Campus Reform and The Blaze cited the draft in articles about the “American” entry. According to 9News, a website called Liberty Unyielding headlined their article “Colorado State U. bans words ‘America,’ ‘Americans.’”

Individuals like Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, from Colorado Springs, weighed in with tweets.

The websites linked to a draft version of the guide, which was originally uploaded on The Collegian website. That draft was cited in a Collegian opinion column, “Leibee: CSU has gone too far with inclusive language,” where the fact that the document was not official was not included.

The draft document itself does not say it is unofficial either.

According to 9News, CSU said it will do a better job at labeling draft and final versions of future documents.

The official guide does include many other recommendations such as “never assume a person’s gender identity based on their name or their appearance,” and avoid the term “homosexual.”

Frank wrote that most of these suggestions are common sense and have been used for decades.

“The bottom line is that no one is making anyone use this guide, and we have not seen any evidence that this brief guide has had a chilling effect on that climate on our learning environment,” Frank wrote. “As a university system whose campuses strenuously advocate for First Amendment rights, we will defend someone’s right to try and avoid offending someone inadvertently so long as they don’t force it on others. Contrary to what online articles are portraying, we believe that is what this list aims to do.”

You can read the guides here: Draft guide | Official Guide (posted by 9News)

Samantha Ye can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @samxye4.

[Presbyterian Reporter]

Well, lookee here. All of a sudden the Colorado State University Administration says that the October 30, 2018 guidelines were just only a draft.

But low and behold the CSU administration now says that the 1/14/19 version is the final and only official version.

It is interesting that the only 'forbidden words' that were changed in the 10/30/18 DRAFT and the 1/14/19 FINAL version were the words AMERICA!!!!!

FINAL-- https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pBkizQafGRLUABqN4lthQRYc14jSN1L_/view

DRAFT--https://collegian.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Inclusive-Language-Guide_10_30_18.pdf

[Presbyterian Reporter]

FINAL— https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pBkizQafGRLUABqN4lthQRYc14jSN1L_/view

DRAFT—
https://collegian.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Inclusive-Language-Guide_10_30_18.pdf

[NurdlyPeon]

My Alma Mater. *spit*

[MtnClimber]

The ironic thing is that an inclusive language guide is inherently non-inclusive.

[MuttTheHoople]

I'm surprised that flag-burning babykillers control an Ag and Engineering University. I can understand Colorado-Boulder, but Colorado State?

My guess, is that there are some big-money alums who will cut off contributions if this happens.

[A strike]

“Media outlets have sparked controversy over a draft version of Colorado State University’s inclusive language guide, which recommends avoiding the word “American.” “

“But despite the ire, the final document does not mention “America” or “American” at all.”

[A strike]

Just can’t make this stuff up !

[A_perfect_lady]

What's going on with this "American" business is an effort to erase America as a nation. To liberals, America is public property, a giant ATM that the rest of the world must be allowed to pilfer at will, and they would very much like for Americans to cease to be a group. You can be Mexican, Portuguese, Yemeni, Tibetan, Australian, Russian, Nigerian, Venezuelan, or Algerian, but if you are American, you are not supposed to be able to say "I am a(n) _______________."

It's linguistic ethnic cleansing. You can say you are FROM there, but you don't exist as a nationality, in their world. I wonder if there's a similar movement in Israel, where Palestinians can say they are Palestinian, but Israelis are supposed to say they are "from Israel" (and the really woke probably say "I'm from the occupied territories.") Linguistic ethnic cleansing.

[organicchemist]

Not despite the ire. Because of the ire. It is now an unwritten policy. The masters will still pound on you if you go backsliding.

[Presbyterian Reporter]

“””“But despite the ire, the final document does not mention “America” or “American” at all.””””

---

I would like to see the word processor time stamps on the “final” document.

I am suspicious CSU back-dated the document to 1/14/19 for the changes made yesterday.

[ActresponsiblyinVA]

Do they deserve your donations?

[Presbyterian Reporter]

“””“Media outlets have sparked controversy over a draft version of Colorado State University’s inclusive language guide, which recommends avoiding the word “American.” “”””

---

There was no mention in the 10/30/18 version of the guidelines that it was nothing but a ‘draft’ version.

CSU got a lot of criticism in early November 2018 re the 10/30/18 version, but they took no action until now to disavow their anti-American screed.

[Presbyterian Reporter]

“”””The websites linked to a draft version of the guide, which was originally uploaded on The Collegian website. That draft was cited in a Collegian opinion column, “Leibee: CSU has gone too far with inclusive language,” where the fact that the document was not official was not included.

The draft document itself does not say it is unofficial either.””””

---

CSU was quite happy to have the guidelines stand until they got major pushback this week.

Too little and far too late for them to ‘straighten’ things.

Oops-—I believe I may have use a forbidden word!!!!

[A strike]

” I am suspicious CSU back-dated the document to 1/14/19 for the changes made yesterday. “

Wait, what ?
There is no way a ‘highly’ ranked American academic institution could engage in such behavior.

(I’m right, right?) ?

[yoe]

"“The guide is not about political-correctness or policing grammar...">

That is exactly what it is about!

Be PROUD to be an AMERICAN not the Ugly American, unleashed on an easily fooled populace by propaganda, by two disillusioned authors, Eugene Burdick and William Lederer, "a blame America manual" for the geopolitical ills of that time...a popular theme today.

Political Correctness silences all debate, it censors truth from fiction leaving the original Black Hole of The Functionally Illiterate...running our cities, states, and federal government and a populace and leaving the aforementioned badly damaged mentally and poor Patriots for America....BE AMERICAN AND BE PROUD TO CALL YOURSELVES AMERICAN!!! Let the left be oppressed by their lies....as for me......

[SunkenCiv]

The draft recommends using the terms “U.S. citizen” or “person from the U.S.” instead. That entry never made it into the final guide, however. “They decided against this on their own and deleted that from the draft before it was ever finalized or circulated to campus,” Frank wrote. “Why that information is being circulated now as current or factual is unclear.”

[stinkerpot65]

Democrats are evil scum.

[Spktyr]

Ah, “Outdating the outrage...”

[Tucker39]

“In the draft version of the language guide, the terms “America” and “American” are listed as words to avoid because the “Americas encompass a lot more than the United States.” So all these years singing “America, The Beautiful” we’ve been honoring the whole Western Hemisphere. Who knew?

[Tucker39]

Is CSU the School that used to employ an America-hating, vulgar, profane phony white professor, passing himself off as a Native American? Sounds like a real upright, straight arrow, honorable institution./S