A bake sale held by a group of conservative students on the University of Texas campus charged different prices for items based on race as a protest against affirmative action.
The Huffington Post reports that the affirmative action bake sale was sponsored by the UT chapter of the Young Conservatives of Texas. Lorenzo Garcia, the group’s president, said he wanted to demonstrate that affirmative action is “demeaning to minorities” and creates “reverse discrimination.”
White people were charged the most for bake sale brownies, and Native Americans were charged the least.
A member of the chapter said the goal was to spark a discussion about why the university uses race as a factor for admissions, according to KENS.
The member said the pricing differences were to show the amount of bias that is used toward “underrepresented minority groups” in the college admission process. He reportedly gave an example, stating that Native Americans were more likely to be given an unfair advantage for college admissions than those of Asian descent.
The university vice president for diversity and community engagement was not amused by the bake sale.
“The choice of a tiered pricing structure creates the misperception that some students either do not belong at the university or do not deserve to have access to our institution — or worse, that they belong or deserve only to a certain degree,” Gregory J. Vincent said in a statement, according to the Huffington Post. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”
A member of the group reportedly said the bake sale was received with mixed results. Some people understood the message while others accused the group of racism.
