Bacon's Rebellion

The Thought Police Have Arrived — in Blacksburg of All Places

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by

James A. Bacon
in

I’m sorry, sometimes I forget: Are we living in the United States, circa 2006, or are we living in the People’s Republic of China, circa 1969? It’s hard to tell with news like this: Virginia Tech has just launched a “SafeWatch” program to promote “individual and collective responsibility among students, faculty, staff, and guests” to incorporate the Virginia Tech “Principles of Community” into their interpersonal and intergroup relationships.

Patterned after “neighborhood watch” programs, SafeWatch will “promote understanding” of university policies and community expectations related to harassment, discrimination, or similar behaviors, and provide a way to report instances when policies and expectations are not followed.

Central to the program is a new SafeWatch website that provides a means for community members to report occurrences of discrimination or harassment related to age, color, disability, gender, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, and veterans’ status.

Just wait, this is a disaster waiting to happen.

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2 responses to “The Thought Police Have Arrived — in Blacksburg of All Places”

  1. Rtwng Extrmst Avatar
    Rtwng Extrmst

    Agreed Jim. Just wondering, will such a policy allow passers-by to “report” campus organizations for violations to the commisar? For example, a campus recognized Christian group sponsors a Bible study that happens to review scripture that is negative toward certain activities related to “sexual orientation”. Could such a group find it’s campus recognition in danger? This seems to me would have a tremendous chilling effect on open discourse on campus.

  2. Lucy Jones Avatar
    Lucy Jones

    Looks like trouble to me too.

    Looks more like tattle-tail anonymous. If someone has an issue or has been harassed, can’t they just go to the correct authority? My daughter’s middle school would never stand for something like this. They’re not allowed to tattle unless someone is bleeding, broken or unconcious. Pretty much the same rule I have in my own home…

    I wonder if they are having problems with actions that “do not conform to the Virginia Tech Principles of Community or university policies” and what they are….

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