A University of Tennessee at Knoxville web page promoting inclusive holiday celebrations has spiraled into calls for Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek’s resignation.
After a semester of tension between the university and state lawmakers over “excessive” efforts to promote diversity on the campus, a web post on “inclusive holiday celebrations” sparked a flurry of dueling statements between U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan, a Republican, other lawmakers, and university officials, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported.
Representative Duncan, a university alumnus, flagged what he called the “extremist” post on Fox News on Thursday. He said the university’s clarification that holiday parties are not meant to be only about Christmas was a signal of political correctness that “people all over the country are sick and tired of.”
“The people on the far left who always claim to be tolerant seem to be tolerant of everything except traditional Christianity,” Mr. Duncan told the News Sentinel.
A clarification added to the diversity website said that the campus celebrates Christmas, and the guidelines, which have been used for three years, are merely suggestions.
Rickey Hall, vice chancellor for diversity, said the post had been meant to further efforts to include Jewish and Muslim students, who have objected that holiday workplace parties are generally Christmas celebrations. Mr. Hall called the criticism “ridiculous” and told the News Sentinel that such efforts are not “anti-Christmas” but “pro-inclusion.”
Lawmakers also objected this fall to the Office for Diversity and Inclusion’s post calling for gender-neutral pronouns, which prompted Joe DiPietro, the Tennessee system’s president, to remove the page and promise that Mr. Cheek would monitor all future posts on policies. After the holidays post drew censure, several lawmakers called for Mr. Cheek to resign.
Mr. Cheek declined to comment on the calls for his resignation, the newspaper said. “I am disappointed that our efforts to be inclusive have been totally misconstrued,” Mr. Cheek said in a statement. The university is in “no way trying to dismiss this very important Christian holiday,” he added.
