Monday, December 01, 2008

Grinch Alert -- Florida Gulf Coast University

It's time for a Grinch alert and this time it's Florida Gulf Coast University located in Fort Myers, Florida.

I stumbled across this article, telling about how the administration has banned all holiday decorations from common spaces on campus, canceled a popular greeting card design contest, replacing that with an ugly sweater competition, and in Griffin Hall, the university's giving tree for needy preschoolers has been transformed into a "giving garden."

They did this all in the name of political correctness. Why?

Apparently several Florida Gulf Coast University staffers did not like this decision.
The Staff Advisory Council received 44 anonymous comments on the issue; all were against the ban on holiday decorations.


Students were not supportive of the ban either.
Junior Marilyn Lerner, a 20-year-old resort and hospitality management major from California, said she'll miss seeing Christmas trees in the Student Union.

"I think they're pretty," said Lerner, who is Jewish. "It's just a Christmas tree. I don't mind."


Perhaps the most telling quote was from a student, who is Wiccan.
Neither does junior Stephanie Tirado, 20, an education major from New York.

"Christmas is no longer just a religious holiday. It's commercialized now," said Tirado, who is Wiccan. "Why don't they just add a menorah then?"


Unfortunately, Ms. Tirado is right. Christmas, the time for the celebration of Jesus' birth, is more about finding the right present at the right price now. Instead of complaining about how the governing bodies of cities, universities and others are taking Christmas out of the public view, perhaps we should start putting Christ back in Christmas, and start with ourselves at home.

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