Does Kansas University really need to be the black hole it is during the holiday season?

An institution of higher education is supposed to be in the forefront of matters social, economic, educational and sometimes even religious. It needs to be careful about thoughtlessly treading on someone’s toes. Put another way, a school such as Kansas University has to be more mindful of “political correctness” than most private entities because it is designed to serve and nurture such a broad spectrum of society and receive federal funding.

There are innumerable reasons why that is so, but does it mean the KU campus must be a virtual black hole at the holidays compared to the surrounding community of which it is such an integral part? An evening’s drive on KU’s campus provides a stark contrast: Holiday lighting and displays at many living units, including windows of student housing, and a dark, foreboding presence for virtually all the KU campus. One goes quickly from pleasing holiday displays into a drab and dreary sector that is not at all in keeping with the spirit of this season.

It is understandable that people who practice religions other than Christianity might resent overt declarations of the religious aspects of Christmas. But for all the fervor to keep manger scenes, prayer vigils, crosses, even the Ten Commandments, off the publicly supported campus, and to avoid the use of the word “Christmas” with anything associated with the university, what is wrong with allowing decorations that reflect the spirit of “peace on earth to men (and women) of good will”? There is nothing religious about a tree decorated to add charm to a setting. A few poinsettias arranged as holiday trees have no Christian depth.

Whatever happened to the lights that once decorated such spots as Hoch Auditorium, Strong Hall and other KU sites? With current budget constraints, officials could make a case for reducing the cost of installing, maintaining and taking down holiday displays. But the lack of decorations isn’t a matter of money.

The Adams Alumni Center on the fringe of the campus has a friendly light display. Somebody has adorned some bushes in front of the Kansas Union with multicolored lights. Let’s hope nobody gets fired for allowing attractive lighted trees near the entrance to the extension center in West Lawrence.

In the past, there have been blue lights on Danforth Chapel. This year even that is missing ” presumably because the chapel is designed to be nondenominational. All well and good, but would some lighting, at any location, shatter the sensibilities of non-Christians?

For all the importance of a college being on the cutting edge of tolerance and propriety, does it not also have some obligation to seem a part of its community that is caught up in a given event? Why should a university campus be so foreboding when all around it are taking advantage of a holiday season to liven up the scenery?

Apologists for the KU approach to the holiday season can provide countless explanations and excuses for things being this way. But the majority of people in Lawrence enjoy the Christmas season ” whether or not they celebrate in church.

We hear much about the “tyranny of the majority” and how that can trample on the rights and well-being of others. What about a little more “tolerance of the minority,” starting with lightening up attitudes and at least a little lightening up of the KU campus that would benefit in many ways from cheerful holiday displays of a nonreligious nature.