Race Preference Bake Sales

…prove the point quite well, don’t they? A student group at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana, held such a demonstration last week. (Source)

Since students of Asian descent generally outscore blacks, whites, Hispanics, and other groups, for example, the men were charged $1.50 per item. The rest were charged lower amounts, depending on race. American Indians paid nothing for baked items.

It is indisputable that colleges and universities across the country, both undergraduate and graduate, lower admissions standards for minority students. Take a look at the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, for instance. Both admitted black and Hispanic students who had “significantly lower” GPAs and LSAT scores, according to the Center for Equal Opportunity. In fact, the odds favor black students over white students at the University of Arizona 250 to 1 and 1115 to 1 at Arizona State.

Race preference bake sales, as offensive as they may be to some, are nothing compared to similar practices that are part of school policy. I commend the students for starkly illustrating the point and taking the inevitable heat from “offended” people.

Tim Arehart, executive project director for the Conservative Coalition for American Values, told Lafayette Online, “I was appalled when I learned that racial targets, not merit alone, granted professors positions at Purdue and students admittance at many major universities. I don’t think that fighting discrimination with discrimination justifies Affirmative Action.”

Race preferences for faculty, too? Absolutely.

I hope more student groups at tax-supported schools speak out about preferential treatment policies. The First Amendment certainly protects their right to do so…for now.