Some Tenn politicians want to defund the office of diversity and fire the chancellor because he issued guidelines suggesting that academic departments not do Christmas parties but rather something more inclusive ("it's a war on Christmas!")
At a public university this makes sense to me. Also, apparently, to the faculty and students there:
a petition to support Cheek and Hall was signed by nearly 3,000 faculty, students and staff since Thursday. The Faculty Senate, Student Government Association and the University of Tennessee Knoxville chapter of the American Association of University Professors have all joined in the effort to rally support for the petitions.
http://wjhl.com/2015/12/07/university-of-tennessee-faculty-support-cheek-hall-on-workplace-holiday-party-guidelines/
Campus Ministry To GOP Lawmakers: 'Please Calm Down, Have A Cookie'
Clergy, faculty and students are sticking up for the University of Tennessee's efforts to be inclusive.
"We, the undersigned, as Christian clergy, Tennessee taxpayers, and campus ministers at UTK are disappointed and frustrated by the erroneous claims that diversity at the University of Tennessee, particularly religious diversity, poses any threat to the religious freedom of students, faculty, and staff. By offering university departments suggestions on best practices for ensuring that all their faculty and staff, not just the Christians, feel respected during holiday festivities, the Office of Diversity functioned admirably. To suggest that a publicly funded office remain friendly to all employees is not at all extremist."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/christmas-university-of-tennessee_5665de80e4b079b2818f75c9
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