The University of California, Berkeley will no longer call freshmen starting in the spring semester “spring admits” because they claim that title makes students feel as if “their admission is significantly different” from the other freshmen, according to their campus paper The Daily Californian.
Of course, it is “significantly different” – by at least several months.
The new “inclusive” programs present three options. The title of the program that allows students to live on campus and attend classes is called the “Fall Program for Freshmen,” (FPF) which sounds like a title straight from the satirical paper The Onion. The program change affects the name only, and does not affect the actual program itself or enrollment numbers.
“The manufactured outrage to a rather innocuous phrase is another symptom of Berkeley's illness with freedom of expression,” Casey Given, alumna from 2012, told Campus Reform. “Despite being the literal home of the Free Speech Movement, the university has become overly obsessed with political correctness to the point of absurdity, as is well seen in the 'spring admit' example."
One freshman told the student newspaper that she found the programs’ reworded titles confusing and thought they implied she was not “outstanding.”
“We don’t want you to feel like a second choice,” said Amy Jarich, assistant vice chancellor and director of undergraduate admissions. “You are someone I dearly want to come here, but I don’t have a seat for you right now.”
h/t: Campus Reform