[WASHINGTONTIMES] The University of Minnesota has disavowed a set of guidelines issued by one of its academic departments labeling holiday symbols such as Christmas trees, doves and dreidels as "religious iconography" inappropriate for a school setting.The school’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resources Sciences recently issued a set of guidelines that encouraged employees to "recognize holidays in ways that are respectful of the diversity of our community," Campus Reform first reported.
The department included a list of "religious iconography" that shouldn’t be included in holiday parties, such as Santa Claus, Christmas trees, bows/wrapped gifts, bells, doves, dreidels, and green and red color schemes.
The list made the rounds on conservative media sites as evidence of an academic "War on Christmas," but the university on Thursday distanced itself from the controversy.
The guidelines were "the actions of a single employee, whose attempt at a diversity training session was, to be blunt, ill advised," and "does not constitute a policy on the part of the university," the school told Campus Reform in a statement.