The school received a lot of heat for this and has decided maybe it wasn’t such a great idea.
FOX News reports:
‘America’ and ‘American’ potentially offensive words? Maybe not, university decidesAre the words “America” and “American” potentially offensive? Maybe not, a university in Colorado has decided.According to reports, a draft version of Colorado State University’s “Inclusive Language Guide” included “America” and “American” among words deemed to be non-inclusive.The argument: Inside the U.S., “America” and “American” typically refer to the United States. But outside the U.S., both terms are also used in reference to other countries in North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean.The suggested alternative: Refer to an American as a “U.S. citizen” or “person from the U.S.,” the draft said.Using “America” or “American,” the draft argued, “erases other cultures and depicts the United States as the dominant American country.”Although the university, based in Fort Collins, ultimately changed its mind, some critics had plenty to say about the draft version of the document.For example, former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker took issue with it in an op-ed for The Washington Times this week.“Instead of spending so much time worrying about ways not to offend anyone, it would be nice if our colleges and universities actually worried about teaching our students,” Walker wrote. “Since 1978, college tuition has gone up 1,125 percent — four times the rate of inflation, while actual time in the classroom by tenured professors teaching undergraduates has gone down.”
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