Walkin' on eggshells?

Two interesting moments during our department meeting (that's pre-migraine, last week):

First, when one of my colleagues had a slip of the ol' tongue. See, we recently installed a dual-track major with a 'writing concentration' and a 'literature concentration.' Now, our department is heavy in faculty whose primary job is writing instruction at introductory and advanced levels. And this is an ag school, so a tech writing focus would be a helpful thing. However, there's the matter of what the slip might signify. After one discussion period, someone referred in passing to "determining an identity for the writing program." Our department chair, always careful about language, said, "um, let's be careful. It's not a separate program or even a separate major." "Well," I thought, "perhaps not formally, but perhaps in the minds of some interested parties?"

Second, approaching a delicate subject. Toward the end of the meeting, our chair mentions that some female instructors have been having trouble with some foreign students who hail from a culture that doesn't quite appreciate women in positions of authority. She uses this as a chance to review procedures for unruly, intractable, or threatening students. I watched as several people twitched uncomfortably, especially when our chair stated bluntly that the students in question were from "the middle east." She went on to say that "if they're going to learn to live here, they need to learn to accept that sometimes women are in charge in this country," or words to that effect. So, if any student causes trouble, we should do such-and-such. Someone across the room felt obligated to murmur something about protecting these said students from other students (i.e., white, latino, african-american). It was interesting to see the discomfort percolate around the room, as if to touch on the fact that some of these young muslim men are -gasp!- misogynist and evidently belligerent at times were either wrong or distasteful to bring up.

Which makes me wonder: assuming that we're all trying to be fair, tolerant, and professional, is there a right way to bring things like this up? Why were some folks uncomfortable with the straightforward association of these students with "The Middle East" and "Islam"?

And, how is it that young men from Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Lebanon find their way out here? (And from China, for that matter--we've got a larger international student population than you'd think.)