Michael Schramm

University of Michigan

In a recent interview on ESPN Radio with Colin Cowherd, Jerry Seinfeld discussed the growing trend of comedians avoiding college campuses for fear of backlash over political correctness.

“[The younger generation] just want to use these words," Seinfeld said. "'That's racist, that's sexist, that's prejudice.' They don’t even know what they’re talking about.”

The topic came up when Cowherd mentioned to Seinfeld that Conan O’Brien made a Caitlyn Jenner joke two days before her interview with Diane Sawyer. Cowherd believes that, had Conan done the joke two days later, he would have been labeled a “bigot.”

This led Cowherd to ask Seinfeld whether the climate is concerning, particularly on college campuses.

“I hear that all the time," Seinfeld said. "I don't play colleges, but I hear a lot of people tell me don't go near colleges — they're so PC (politically correct).”

Seinfeld proceeded to give an example.

"My wife says to [my 14-year-old daughter], 'Well, you know, in the next couple of years, I think maybe you're going to want to be hanging around the city more on the weekends, so you can see boys.' And you know what my daughter says? She says, 'That’s sexist.'"

Seinfeld isn't the only comedian to point out potential issues with performing at college campuses. Cowherd also mentions that he’s spoken to Chris Rock and Larry the Cable Guy about their fears at performing at college campuses. Chris Rock gave an interview for New York where he discussed the topic.

“I stopped playing colleges, and the reason is because they’re way too conservative,” Rock said in the interview. “Not in their political views — not like they’re voting Republican — but in their social views and their willingness not to offend anybody. Kids raised on a culture of 'We're not going to keep score in the game because we don’t want anybody to lose.’ Or just ignoring race to a fault. You can’t say ‘the black kid over there.’ No, it’s ‘the guy with the red shoes.’ You can’t even be offensive on your way to being inoffensive.”

What do you think? Are college students too sensitive or are these comedians missing the mark with their current routines? Let us know in the comments.



Michael Schramm is a summer 2015 Collegiate Correspondent and a University of Michigan junior majoring in economics and English. Interested in a writing career, he produces a biweekly column for 'The Michigan Daily' and writes for his college’s economic newsletter. You can follow him on twitter at @MTSchramm

This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.