This week, Columbia University announced that it will host six graduation ceremonies divided by race, sex, income, and other intersectional identities.
The Ivy League school says that the ceremonies — including a “Native Graduation” for Native-American students, a “Lavender Graduation” for LGBTQ students, an “FLI Graduation” for first-generation and low-income students, an “Asian Graduation,” a “Latinx Graduation,” and a “Black Graduation” — will “complement” the normal schoolwide ceremonies.
Columbia — which places third in US News & World Report’s ranking of universities in the United States — faced swift criticism on social media.
“Congratulations are in order for liberals and Columbia University for successfully bringing segregation back by packaging it as ‘diversity inclusion,’” wrote The Daily Wire’s Candace Owens. “Just one question: which ceremony do bi-racial children attend?”
“The left does not want a color blind society,” commented Larry Elder. “They want a color coordinated one, provided they do the coordinating.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) said that the ceremonies mark “segregation,” which is “the endpoint of critical race theory.”
Other leading universities in the United States are likewise experimenting with racial segregation. Here are five examples.
NYU — Segregated Housing
New York University introduced “themed engagement communities” to provide a home for students identifying with certain minority groups.
According to the school’s website, the “Black Violets” floor in Brittany Hall “serves to uplift Black-identifying students by creating a safe-space within residence halls in order to foster a stronger Black community at NYU.”
“Residents committed to celebrating the diverse facets of Black culture through curated social and cultural programming are welcome to apply,” continued the description. “While this floor’s intent is to shine a light on the fruits of the Black diaspora, it will also explore the very real everyday implications of being Black in America with a spotlight on maintaining wellness while being socially aware.”
Like Columbia University’s graduation ceremonies, the school offers residential programming for low-income and Latin American students. The school also includes multiple living experiences oriented around social justice.
New York University’s student newspaper defended the program in response to articles from The Federalist and The Post Millennial. The editorial board argued that black students need distinct housing since “white people have never experienced anything close to systemic racism.”
“There is a difference between a privileged group oppressing another group of people by excluding them from spaces due to race and a marginalized community asking for a space where they can find support,” said the article.
New York University’s racial equity goals are strikingly different from the dreams of activists in generations past. Indeed, the Fair Housing Act of 1968 — a hallmark achievement of the civil rights movement — was once celebrated for prohibiting discrimination in the United States housing market.
New York University ranks thirtieth among national universities.
Penn — Permanent Space for Black Student-Athletes and ‘Allies’
Among a variety of diversity program recommendations from the University of Pennsylvania’s “Racial Justice Task Force,” was a space set apart for black athletes.
The school’s athletic department plans to establish “permanent shared space for Black student-athletes,” which will also be accessible to “allies and non-athletes.” The university will open the space during the “late night and early morning with swipe access” and incorporate work-study opportunities “funded by the Black Student-Athlete Fund.”
Penn Athletics — which officially adopted the task force’s suggestions in December — clarified that the suggestions were “created as a beginning, not a conclusion” to the school’s racial equity work.
Months earlier, the university hired a “Vice President for Social Equity & Community” to serve alongside the “Chief Diversity Officer.” However, the task force also recommended that the school hire a “Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer” for the athletics department — a move that represents Penn’s third diversity czar hire despite COVID-induced budget strains.
The University of Pennsylvania — which, like Columbia, is a member of the Ivy League — ranks eighth among American universities.
Yale — Queer ‘QBIPOC’ Town Hall
Yale University’s Office of LGBTQ Resources offered a “Queer BIPOC Town Hall Meeting” in October.
“Do you identify as LGBTQ and BIPOC?” read the event’s description. “If so, this event is for you, a virtual town hall to build community with one another. The purpose of this meeting is to share your perspectives, experiences, challenges, and concerns. We hope to form a mission and regular gathering place.”
The school excluded individuals who do not identify with the targeted intersectional group: “To ensure privacy and safety, we respectfully ask that this space be reserved for those who self-identify as QBIPOC.”
Yale, another member of the Ivy League, ranks fourth among American universities.
Cornell — ‘BIPOC’ Rock Climbing
Cornell University planned a physical education course entitled “BIPOC Rock Climbing.”
Racial activists on college campuses brought the acronym “BIPOC” into the mainstream as a descriptor for “Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.” Dictionary.com recently added the term to its lexicon.
Cornell’s course catalog stated that it would restrict the class to “people who identify as Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, or other people of color.”
“Courses ensure a high degree of individual attention and a supportive space to explore the vertical world!” said the class description. “We will also talk about BIPOC individuals and groups in rock climbing.”
After a correspondent from Campus Reform reached out to Cornell’s media relations department, the school backtracked by modifying the description to emphasize that “the class is open to all Cornell students interested in learning rock climbing” with a special focus on BIPOC individuals.
The original course appeared to violate a principle outlined on the New York State Attorney General’s website: “Students in New York schools are protected by federal, state, and local laws that prevent discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, religion, disability, and other categories.”
Despite backlash for its rock climbing class, Cornell offered additional segregated courses. The Women’s Resource Center advertised “Yoga for BIPOC Folx”, “Yoga for QTPOC Folx”, and “Yoga for Women + Femme Folx” for “communities of color and LGBTQ+ folx” at the university.
Cornell, also an Ivy League school, ranks eighteenth among American universities.
Stanford — Minority Physics Classes
To achieve more diversity among physics majors, Stanford University offered classes with “added support” for minorities.
Lauren Tompkins — an assistant physics professor and member of the school’s Equity and Inclusion Committee — explained that “your identity affects your experience as a physicist and even the physics that you do.”
“If we can acknowledge and understand that, it makes us better physicists,” she claimed.
Accordingly, the school created a mechanics class specifically for minority students who “don’t have the same level of preparation from high school as their majority peers.” The school stated that “the difference in preparation is large enough that it may lead students to drop out of the major but small enough that the kind of support offered by this course can be enough to keep them in.”
Another course — “Diverse Perspectives in Physics” — brought minority physics faculty members as guest speakers to “share the story of their lives and careers.”
Stanford ranks sixth among American universities.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.