Not You Too, Georgia Southern

Last week, GSU student and George-Anne staff writer, Courtney Escher, had her editorial (Beware the GTSNP Virus) published in the George-Anne.  In her editorial, she made light of a current campus fashion trend involving girls wearing large shirts that hide the shorts underneath.  I don't recall anyone dressing this way when I was enrolled there, but times change and I imagine it would be funny to see a lot of girls dressed this way.

What has followed has been nothing short of disappointing.  The G-A's inbox has been flooded with the mock outrage and vitriol we've come to expect from the wholly unwashed internet masses.  Every time someone makes an off-color joke or satirical comment in a public forum, they're raked over the coals and made to give a forced apology.  Remember De Niro's "white first lady" joke?  David Axelrod's "Mittzkrieg" comment?  Rush Limbaugh?  Don Imus?  Gilbert Gottfried?  I could go on, but the point is that we've turned into a nation of crybabies.  Everyone's psyche is so fragile that when we hear something we don't like, we piss and moan until the offender apologizes.

College is supposed to be a time of carefree living, especially at Georgia Southern.  When did you all become so sensitive?  How do students living in idyllic Statesboro find their feelings so easily hurt?  I remember a time not that long ago.  Before Brother Micah, there was another younger "evangelist" who would come preach on campus.  I've never heard Brother Micah preach, so I can't speak about his message.  However, the young man who came before him would call everyone within earshot a sinner, whore, faggot, masturbator, etc.  No one protested.  No one demanded an apology.  The spectacle just drew some curious looks and a few laughs from busy students on their way to class, lunch, happy hour, or the pool.

Students of Georgia Southern, I implore you: let's get back to a place where we are to busy to be bothered with being offended.  If nowhere else in the world, let our beloved University be a beacon of calm reason, not hysterical, half-hearted outrage.

Together, we can.