Wesleyan students invited to call school to ask if Halloween costume is offensive

We’re only two-and-half weeks away from Halloween, which means only two-and-a-half weeks until we are once again reminded that a large swath of the Halloween celebrating community is the worst. Or at least, the worst at figuring out which Halloween is okay and which one is definitely not.

This year, it seems the good people at Wesleyan University want to help out students who might have a hard time figuring out that line. In a poster spotted by students and posted online by Inside Higher Ed, the school’s Office of Student Affairs offers students tips on how to avoid offensive costumes.

It reads:

Ask: Does this costume… mock cultural or religious symbols such as dreadlocks, headdresses, afros, bindis, etc.? Attempt to represent an entire culture or ethnicity? Trivialize human suffering, oppression, and marginalization, a person with disabilities, or a person with mental illness?

Students having a hard time answering the questions are invited to give Wesleyan’s Disability Resources, Office of Equity and Inclusion, Religious & Spiritual Life, Residential Life, Student Activities & Leadership Development or WesWell a call.

Wesleyan’s Office of Student Affairs did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.