Worried that some might be offended by certain costumes, American colleges and universities are encouraging their students to take special care when deciding who or what to dress up as this Halloween.

“If you are planning to celebrate Halloween by dressing up in a costume, consider the impact your costume decision may have on others in the CU community,” writes Colorado University Dean of Students Christian Gonzales in a memo. “Making the choice to dress up as someone from another culture, either with the intention of being humorous or without the intention of being disrespectful, can lead to inaccurate and hurtful portrayals of other peoples’ cultures in the CU community.”

It’s not just costumes that might feed into ethnic stereotypes—dressing up as an Indian chief, for example—that are coming under fire. Any costume that might stereotype any group is being discouraged.

“When you dress up as a cowboy, and you have your sheriff badge on and a big cowboy hat, that’s not a representation of a cowboy,” says CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard; “That’s not a representation of people who work on a ranch, that’s not a representation of people who live in the West; that’s kind of a crude stereotype.” (Fox News)

Paul Asay has covered religion for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for Plugged In and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He lives in Colorado Springs with wife Wendy and his two children. Follow him on Twitter.