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Original post made on Jan 6, 2023

HARMFUL LANGUAGE ... Stanford University has taken down its Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative website, the university announced Wednesday, after facing widespread backlash. Steve Gallagher, Stanford's chief information officer, wrote on the Stanford IT Community website that the initiative was "intended as a guide, not a mandate," to address racist and harmful terminology commonly used in the IT space and inspired by widespread and campus-specific events of 2020. Launched in May, the initiative compiled a list of more than 100 words considered racist or harmful, with the most controversial inclusion being the word "American." The initiative suggested using "U.S. Citizen" instead of "American" to avoid "insinuating that the U.S. is the most important country in the Americas." Several media outlets criticized the initiative overall and the inclusion of "American" specifically, with a USA Today column calling the list of words "an example of political correctness gone wild" that will discourage free speech and discussion. An opinion by The Wall Street Journal's editorial board called the list an example of what makes "so much of modern life and culture (resemble) the Babylon Bee." In his post to the Stanford IT Community website Wednesday, Gallagher wrote that the site was taken down because the initiative "missed the intended mark." "The path forward will be determined after reviewing all recent feedback and consulting with university academic and administrative leadership," he wrote. "All efforts will be guided by Stanford's commitment to academic freedom."

Read the full story here Web Link posted Friday, January 6, 2023, 12:00 AM

Comments (5)

Posted by jerry
a resident of Palo Verde
on Jan 6, 2023 at 1:20 pm
jerry is a registered user.

As well as artist Miles Mathews, Palo Alto artist and Heartist, Judith Lippe just completed her 3rd heart for the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation.
Her first 2 hearts in 2013, 2020 raised $150,000 for the hospital.
The 2020 Heart is at the Westfield Center in S.F. Her latest heart entitled Sun Kissed San Francisco can be seen at the San Francisco Ferry Building beginning January 25th. to Feb.28.

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Posted by Bystander
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jan 6, 2023 at 5:28 pm
Bystander is a registered user.

Good. It didn't bode well for Stanford, or for America (USA).

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Posted by MyFeelz
a resident of another community
on Jan 6, 2023 at 6:02 pm
MyFeelz is a registered user.

I already spent $$$ printing MUSCGA hats. Can I file a suit to recover my damages?

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Posted by Online Name
a resident of Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Jan 6, 2023 at 7:16 pm
Online Name is a registered user.

A bunch of us here hav having fun coming up with NewSpeak synonyms but this was brand new to a friend from Back East and she got me wondering what the new correct term is for "Freshmen." Thanks in advance.

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Posted by MyFeelz
a resident of another community
on Jan 6, 2023 at 9:53 pm
MyFeelz is a registered user.

What are we supposed to call a manhole cover now?

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