Visit that link and take a moment to browse the page. Seriously, do it. You won't regret it. It's shocking. For those who don't look, let me describe this abomination to you. The Rutgers Dean of Students web section has a page dedicated to BPEC. BPEC stands for Bias Prevention and (re)Education Committee. At the top of the page is a poster with four words. Stop hate. Report bias. I'll quote a few sections of the page. [quote]Think Before you Speak[/quote] [quote]Free Yourself - Lose stereotypes about any group. There is no such thing as a “positive” stereotype. All stereotypes are inherently negative, hurtful, and damaging.[/quote] [quote]If you experience or witness an act of bias or hate, report it to someone in authority. You may file a report on line at www.bias.rutgers.edu and you will be contacted within 24 hours.[/quote] [quote]Bias acts are often disruptive. However, such acts may not always be in violation of civil, criminal or University codes, and therefore will not result in discipline. Acts of bias may warrant discussion or education about how they affect other members of the University community.[/quote] What [i]is[/i] this? Is this normal? This is terribly Orwellian, if you ask me. The only silver lining here is that this appears to be isolated to only Rutgers, and as far as I know, they have the authority to form BPEC. Here's how they define an "act of bias." [quote]Bias is defined by the University as an act, verbal, written, physical, psychological, that threatens, or harms a person or group on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, civil union status, domestic partnership status, atypical heredity or cellular blood trait, military service or veteran status.[/quote] You may read this and think, "Well golly gee, Stallcall, you've got it all wrong. Your liberty bells are going off for no reason. Clearly they've defined it as something that would warrant criminal charges. Explicitly harming somebody or threatening somebody's safety is arguably a criminal act." Sure, that's what I thought to myself -- until I read the disclaimer at the bottom of the page. [quote]Bias acts are often disruptive. However, such acts may not always be in violation of civil, criminal or University codes, and therefore will not result in discipline. Acts of bias may warrant discussion or education about how they affect other members of the University community.[/quote] In other words, "Because the offending actions may not [i]technically[/i] be criminal, we can't guarantee that the perpetrator will face negative consequences from authority. However, we'll still take the opportunity to correct any 'wrong' opinions." This is an isolated case, obviously. However, I worry that policies like this may start to become mainstream. Perhaps I'm overreacting. But, at the very least, BPEC signifies a tolerance towards reporting your peers for holding a "wrong" opinion or saying the wrong thing. [b]TL;DR[/b] - Rutgers University has a Bias Prevention and Education Committee. It's open 24/7, and encourages you to report "acts of bias" committed by your peers. "Acts of bias may warrant discussion or education about how they affect other members of the University community." What do you make of this? Is this a positive or negative cultural trend? Or is it a trend at all? I encourage anybody interested in topics like this to join the group Liberty Hub. Edit: Check this out. YouTuber Sargon of Akkad had this featured in a video last year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=temJVn-h33E At 6:48, he examines the "Think Before you Speak" headline. Beneath it reads, [b]"There is no such thing as "free" speech. All speech has a cost and consequences."[/b] Visit the page now. That particular sentence has been taken down.