Michigan State Warns Against Using Words Like 'Christmas Tree,' 'America', Because They Might Be Offensive

The lengthy "Inclusive Guide" instructs students and community members to stay away from a litany of different commonly used words, and urges them to make various considerations when having conversations about topics like gender and sexuality or race and ethnicity.



Michigan State University's (MSU) annually updated "Inclusive Guide" is telling the university community to refrain from using common holiday verbiage like "Christmas trees," "gifts," "bunnies" and "eggs" during the winter and spring seasons, as well as words like "obese" and "overweight" outside of a research context and even the word "America" when referring to the United States of America, arguing they can be offensive to others in certain situations.