Oswego State held its fourth and final OzSpeaks presentation for the fall semester on Nov. 1 in the Marano Campus Center auditorium. Unpacking political correctness was the topic of the discussion and students were encouraged to share their opinions and experiences on the subject.

According to the Merriam-Webster online edition, “politically correct” means “conforming to a belief that language and practices which could offend political sensibilities (as in matters of sex or race) should be eliminated.” Some Americans feel that political correctness is dangerous because it infringes on the First Amendment.

Pew Research Center conducted a study in which they found 59 percent of Americans believe that people are too easily offended over the language others use.

Before the OzSpeaks discussion began, Assistant Dean of Students Dan Roberts let everyone know that it would not be a debate, but everyone was welcome to voice their opinions and experiences without judgement. Roberts said the school came up with the idea to discuss political correctness after presidential republican nominee Ben Carson said, “political correctness is killing this country.”

“It was something that I think permeated a lot of the conversation,” Roberts said. “It was an overriding theme politically over the summer that we decided we should give people a chance to come and express their thoughts.” 

The event did not have a moderator to lead a discussion. Students and faculty were encouraged to come speak freely to the audience.

There was a prolonged silence as the audience waited for the first speaker to step up to the microphone.

“What’s been great about this OzSpeaks thing, is that we’ve been learning as we go and this has given us a great baseline understanding of that students want and the format they want it in,” Roberts said. “If we’d do this topic again we’d take this and do it in a more structured way to help inform as well as engage.”

Most of the students talked about their experiences facing racism and their interpretation of what political correctness is.

“I still don’t know about much about this topic,” Tamika Austin said. “I was raised in a household where I can say whatever I want but I had responsibility for the words that came out of my mouth. When people feel they have the First Amendment right taken away, that’s when they have to defend.”