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āNed Flanders, Marty McFly unwelcome at Drexel Universityā
Check out ¹ū¶³“«Ć½app¹Ł·½ās own Luke Sheahanās op ed in The Triangle Online, the web edition of Drexel Universityās student newspaper. Drexel had the dubious distinction of being Septemberās Speech Code of the Month. Its policies ban āthe use of derogatory names,ā āinconsiderate jokesā and āinappropriately directed laughter.ā As Luke points out:
What is an āinconsiderate jokeā? Pretty much any joke that is funny. Jokes make light of someone or something. So at Drexel, not only can you not tell a joke (since it would almost always be considered inconsiderate by someone, somewhere), but you canāt laugh at one either (since that laughter would be inappropriately directed). These bungling attempts to stifle offense on campus only harm Drexelās credibility as an educational institution dedicated to free expression. Despite promises of free speech and academic expression contained in the harassment policy, if you can't laugh at a joke, let alone tell one, speech and even your thoughts are not free.
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