What began as tragedy, ends as farce

From Selma 1965 we come to Western Washington University 2015. WWU is apparently a hotbed of what is quaintly called "hate speech" these days, to the point where the university is embroiled in a debate about the school mascot, Victor E. Viking. Reports the student newspaper, with the more hilarious words in boldface:

The idea of changing the mascot was brought up at an Associated Students Board meeting earlier this month. Abby Ramos, the AS Vice President for Diversity, said that this conversation started in the summer to discuss changing the mascot to be a more inclusive figure.

Ramos and AS President Belina Seare received a letter from communications studies professor Michael Karlberg regarding the mascot. “I think this mascot also reflects a sort of hyper masculine, hyper violent sort of image which is doubly problematic. I think we really ought to reconsider,” Karlberg said. . . .

Senior Josie Ellison, who identifies by they/them/their pronouns, is in favor of changing the mascot. Ellison currently works in the AS Representation and Engagement Programs as the legislative advocacy coordinator, but is representing their personal views in this article. “I’m a big fan of the Western ferns because [they’re] plants and also non-violent,” they said.

The newspaper does not tell us if Professor Karlberg included a trigger warning in his letter, so that students of Norwegian descent might flee to the designated campus comfort zone before being exposed to his assault on their ancestors.