A planned College Republican-sponsored “affirmative action bake sale” at UNC-Charlotte has raised the ire of at least one school official, who said the event is offensive to minorities.
Members of the UNC-Charlotte College Republicans want to set up a booth Feb. 15 to offer baked goods with different prices for various groups of students. This is the third year the group has held the sale. Similar events have been conducted at college campuses across the nation in previous years.
The group set five price levels to highlight affirmative action issues in higher education, said Elizabeth Beck, a member of the College Republicans. A white male would pay $5, while a white female would pay $4.25. A black male would pay $2, while a black female would pay $1.25. Other under-represented minorities would pay 50 cents. Students who are gay, lesbian, transgender, or bisexual would receive a 10 percent discount.
School funds or student fees would not be used to organize the event, Beck said.
“It’s not really anything new,” Beck said. “The only thing we are changing from the way we’ve done this for the last few years is the addition of a 10 percent discount for gay-bisexual-transgender students.”
At least one school official has criticized the group for organizing the event this year. Kristen McManus, associate director of academic initiatives for UNC-Charlotte, criticized the group’s program in an email to the media Monday. In it, McManus decried the program and its efforts to open debate on affirmative action.
“The idea is to demonstrate against affirmative action which they have every right to do,” McManus said in the email. “However, I along with many students, are offended by their egregious methodology,” the email said. McManus could not be reached for further comment.
McManus mentioned the bake sale as being as offensive as comments made by Mecklenburg County Commissioner Bill James. In a memo last year, James called inner-city communities “moral sewers.” James has said he used the language in part to increase dialogue on improving low-performing schools in the black community.
“In light of the issues surrounding this debated topic, and on the heels of Bill James, I believe these issues should be discussed in a forum that does not belittle the people of color,” McManus’ email said.
UNC-Charlotte College Republicans established the event to increase dialogue on affirmative-action issues on campus and elsewhere, Beck said.
“We aren’t attacking anyone or in any way being aggressive with this,” Beck said. “We are simply setting up a table where we can encourage open debate and challenge people to think about what they have blindly accepted.”
Besides McManus’ statement to the media, the group has learned of possible safety concerns on the day of the event. A student government representative from UNC-Charlotte informed the group that he was worried about the group’s safety.
“(The vice chair) pushed him to say if he knew something about protestors or anything, and he wouldn’t say more than that he was worried and a lot of the administration and students were upset about it this year,” Beck said.
UNC-Charlotte has not released a statement on the College Republican’s event, a school spokeswoman said.
Blosser ([email protected]) is a staff writer for the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy in Chapel Hill and a contributor to Carolina Journal.