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Can a College Keep Students From Saying ‘Christmas’?

Can a college tell you that you can't use the word "Christmas"? Well, a public college in North Carolina certainly gave it a shot. 

FIRE Senior Vice President Robert Shibley writes today for The Daily Caller about the absurd censorship of students at Western Piedmont Community College (WPCC). The Alliance Defending Freedom reported in a press release this morning that an environmental student group at WPCC called the BEST Society decided to raise funds for a project called Angel Tree, which provides Christmas gifts and other holiday fare for children of prisoners. The group filled out a request to have its "Christmas tree" fundraiser advertised, and the campaign was approved. However, within days, the word "Christmas" was replaced with "holiday"—in every single venue in which the advertisements appeared. 

Even though WPCC has now changed the wording back, its actions still prompt the question: Why did WPCC feel the need to take "Christmas" out? As Robert writes:

Why did this happen? Is WPCC hostile to Christmas? Perhaps; we're unlikely to know for sure. What's more likely, though, is that WPCC has imbibed the idea, so popular on campuses these days, that avoiding offense is not just a good thing to do, but actually some sort of legal requirement. 

Be sure to check out the rest of Robert's piece in The Daily Caller for his full analysis.

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