Calvin College, a Christian college in Michigan, has cancelled a planned concert by The New Pornographers solely because of the name of the band.
The college explained in an official statement: "the irony of the band's name was impossible to explain to many." I'd be hard pressed to find any secular college in the country that has ever banned a band due to the inability to explain irony. Could we call this a mild example of the American Taliban at work?
As I noted in my book, Patriotic Correctness, the worst repression at American colleges is unquestionably found at Christian institutions. Calvin College in the recent past has censored its student newspaper, and it has a student code of conduct (pdf) that easily ranks as one of the worst in the country, disciplining students for any conduct on or off campus that "violates Biblical standards" or "adversely affects the Calvin College community."
Of course, all private colleges should be free from government control, even when they engage in censorship. But they shouldn't be free from criticism and ridicule. And it's hilarious but disheartening to see a Christian college ban a concert because idiots can't understand the name of the band.
Crossposted at College Freedom.