Colorado State University System Chancellor Tony Frank hit back at conservative media reports criticizing the university for an inclusive language guide that went viral last month.

CSU “became the subject of a ‘too dumb to be true’ rumor,” Frank wrote in an opinion piece published Friday by the Denver Post.

Conservative media outlets Brietbart, The Blaze and Campus Reform published stories in July saying a CSU task force had created an inclusive language guide that encouraged people to avoid using the words “America” or “American," among other words and phrases.

Frank said at the time that the reports were based on an outdated document — one that does not represent an official policy. CSU provided the current version of the guide dated Jan. 14, 2019, which does not include an entry for "America/American."

In Friday's opinion, Frank was more outspoken.

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“Many of the people retelling (the story) were not as interested in the truth as they were in the story,” Frank wrote. “The way this story has been retold gets an ‘A’ in rhetoric and persuasive speech. On fact-checking content? That grade’s not so good."

Frank said a language guide was developed by an informal group of CSU staff as a free resource for anyone interested in using it, meant to help folks avoid saying something unintentionally offensive. It wasn’t given to or discussed with students, and it wasn’t an official policy employees were required to follow, according to Frank.

Colorado State University Inclusive Language Guide | Gender | Ethnicity, Race & Gender

The media outlets linked back to a 2018 draft document online. Those outlets, Frank wrote, did not call the university for comment or to clarify.

"That old version, mistakenly not labeled as a draft, was left up on one staff member’s website, an artifact from last fall when there was an active discussion about the topic among the engaged staff," Frank wrote.

He also shared some candid reactions to the guide.

"Do I think CSU did everything right here? No. Do I think a university needs a guide on words and language? No. I never dreamed in grade school that pronouns would ever get this complicated. Do I think several of the suggestions in the list are just plain silly? Sure."

The full opinion piece is published at DenverPost.com.