The University of Alaska, Fairbanks has a new ad campaign: a site called WeedsOutWimps.UAF features recruitment videos with this tip on how to deal with the frigid winters in central Alaska:

“If you’re gonna call yourself an Alaskan, you gotta just dive right in, you can’t be a sissy and wimp out because it’s a little cold outside.”

The first video that comes up on the site was titled “No Sissies.” The title was changed to “Awesomely Cold” yesterday, but the sissy quote remains the focus of the video. The quote is also repeated in a second recruitment video called “Yeah, It’s Cold.”

A message on the UAF Facebook page from Scott McCrea, Director of Marketing and Communications, reads: “The definition of the phrase “No Sissies” in our recruitment campaign meant to imply a person who would not be able to handle the extreme conditions presented by Mother Nature in Interior Alaska. This word is used to explain the attitude and independence that so many people who attend UAF find in Fairbanks.”

The dictionary definition of “sissy” is “an effeminate man or boy; also, a timid or cowardly person.”

It’s like using the word gay to mean stupid. Sissy means both a wimp or coward, and a man who is not as masculine as men are expected to be. The double meaning is the insult.

UAF is still recovering from a controversy over an ex-gay speaker brought up by the Bible club earlier this semester. In his Convocation speech, Chancellor Brian Rogers responded to the protests: “I’m committed to an open and welcoming and inclusive university… I know there are times where this campus does not feel welcoming, inclusive or safe to some of our members. I’d like to change that.”

A “no sissies” ad campaign calling effeminate male students wimps and not real Alaskans is a poor choice for a university that is trying to be safe and inclusive.

So UAF, you think “sissies” aren’t brave enough to handle the harsh winter climate in Fairbanks? Well, that’s nothing compared to the harsh social climate of homophobia. Sissies can also be fierce, and this young man danced half naked in the snow right there at your school. Can you do this: