UT BLACKFACE UPDATE: Good news, bad news, and a surprise in this account from the Daily Beacon student newspaper. The good news is that, despite some early indications to the contrary, the University isn’t planning any disciplinary action against the fraternity:

While stating that the university condemns the actions of the students involved, Shumaker stressed that the administration would have no authority to punish the offenders. He cited previous federal court rulings that found punishment for such actions to be in violation of the First Amendment.

The bad news is that it’s still being used as an excuse for PC-style maneuvering, with non sequitur demands for a new department of African-American studies (I’m not against that, but I don’t see the connection) and with this remark by President Shumaker:

We must have at UT an atmosphere that is free of violence and discrimination.

True enough, but there never was any violence, just some guys in makeup. If you didn’t know better, you might think that Shumaker had just halted a lynching.

But now for the “surprise.” Here’s my favorite quote, from a student activist who obviously isn’t fully indoctrinated with standard-issue political correctness:

Gray also pressed the president on the decision to not levy any punishment on those involved in the incident.

“The Second Amendment gives us the right to own a gun,” she said. “If the university can prevent the student body from exercising that right while on campus, why can’t it punish people who abuse their First Amendment rights?”

Heh. And a suggestion that the University lower its admission standards for black students so as to increase black enrollment (you know, what’s usually called “affirmative action”) appears to have been shouted down as racist. So even in the midst of a classic PC scandal, the edifice of political correctness is showing some prettty major cracks.