Actually, Trump was spot on in this case. The authors aren't so much students as they are activist students and the faculty which comprises the Faculty Advisory Council for Community, Equity and Diversity, of the Office of Community, Equity and Diversity, College of Humanities. The Advisory Council includes the student body president and vice-president, and faculty including the Educational Program Coordinator, Women's Studies, Women's Commission Co-Chair, Educational Program Coordinator, Connect, People of Color Commission Co-Chair, Director, MUB/Student Activities, GLBT Commission Co-Chair, Staff Psychologist, Counseling Center, GLBT Commission Co-Chair, Associate Professor, Philosophy, Information Technologist, PAT Council Representative, GLBT Commission Director.
The authors are, for lack of a better term, "acceptance activists" who argue that everyone should be accepted and embraced as perfectly normal regardless of how ridiculously abnormal they may be. The authors never said the Bias-Free Language Guide was mean to promote discussion. Guidebooks in academia are never about promoting discussion, they're about protocols. They
say the Style Guide “is not a means to censor but rather to create dialogues of inclusion where all of us feel comfortable and welcomed,” however if you fail to adhere to the Guide you risk swift correction and even rebuke or condemnation.
From the Office of Community, Equity and Diversity, College of Humanities:
We are committed to supporting and sustaining an educational community that is inclusive, diverse and equitable. The values of diversity, inclusion and equity are inextricably linked to our mission of teaching and research excellence, and we embrace these values as being critical to development, learning, and success. We expect nothing less than an accessible, multicultural community in which civility and respect are fostered, and discrimination and harassment are not tolerated.
We will ensure that under-represented groups and those who experience systemic inequity will have equal opportunities and feel welcome on our campus. We accept the responsibility of teaching and learning in a diverse democracy where social justice serves as a bridge between a quality liberal education and civic engagement.
Despite what they say to the contrary, Politically Correct speech is de facto censoring, as it censors speech and thought. It's part of training people to think a certain way. If you notice, all of the words and phrases which are problematic in the Guide are words and phrases that could be construed, by somebody somewhere, as being offensive in some way, regardless of how ridiculous it is. No matter how remote the possibility that something might be offensive or exclusionary or whatever, any and all evidence of its remnants must be scrubbed from the lexicon.
I think it's hilariously ridiculous that "homosexual" is offensive, and should be replaced with "same gender loving,". which is what "homosexual" means (
homo- same, sexual-.sexual relations) particularly when the Guide states that there is no actual gender (therefor "same gender" is an impossibility). But I digress.
The guide also states that the notion of race is “a social construct that was designed to maintain slavery,” therefore any term relating to race is out. Caucasian becomes European-American (despite the fact that most Caucasians are not from or in, nor have they ever visited the Americas).