College Removes Historical Paintings That Might Traumatize Students

The University of Wisconsin-Stout (UW-Stout) has decided to pull two historical paintings depicting the early fur trade in Wisconsin’s history. The reason? The “Diversity Leadership Team” claimed some of the withering flowers the college calls students just couldn’t take the trauma of seeing a bygone era.

Since 1936, two large murals by Cal Peters portraying early Wisconsin history have dominated the common area of Harvey Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Stout (UW-Stout). One mural shows French fur traders and American Indians traveling down the Red Cedar River by canoe, while another portrays a wooden fort constructed by the French. Neither painting shows any violence at all.

But now, after 80 years, the murals are abruptly being given the heave-ho after concerns were raised that the paintings are offensive.

School chancellor Bob Meyer says some American Indian students have objected to what the paintings show.

“When they look at the art, to them it symbolizes an era of their history where land and possessions were taken away from them, and they feel bad when they look at them,” Meyer told Wisconsin Public Radio.

They feel bad? That stuff happened. Pretending it didn’t won’t make their special snowflake feelings change about that historical tidbit.

The “Diversity Leadership Team” — which sounds like an awfully official name for “crybully mob” — also tried to argue that the paintings perpetuated racial stereotypes.

Apparently, they’re under the belief that American Indians didn’t paddle around in canoes or something.

Of course, the hysteria just keeps coming.

Meyer claims his decision is strictly business and isn’t about trying to be politically correct.

You see, Meyer believes that Native American students won’t attend a school with paintings that depict historical times of unpleasantness. Honestly, if any students are that fragile, is college really the place for them?

Frankly, if that were the case, why would any black students attend Virginia Military Institute? The college has a diversity on par with other colleges throughout the nation and also regularly has cadets participate in a reenactment of a battle in the Civil War, one in which the cadets of that era fought for the Confederacy while still in school.

These crybully protests, and the colleges caving in afterward, are having an impact on the bottom line for many schools. After all, alumni donations are a nice chunk of change for many schools, and when tradition is upset, the alumni may stop giving. It’s happened before, so why should UW-Stout be any different?