Protest sale offered cookies at different prices, depending on race

ktrk ^

[chance33_98]

Protest sale offered cookies at different prices, depending on race

By The Associated Press

(9/26/03 - DALLAS) — Southern Methodist University officials have shut down a bake sale in which cookies were offered for sale at different prices, depending on the race and gender of the buyer.

The sale Tuesday was organized by the Young Conservatives of Texas, who said it was intended as a protest of affirmative action.

A sign said white males had to pay $1 for a cookie. The price was 75 cents for white women, 50 cents for Hispanics and 25 cents for blacks.

Members of the conservative group said they meant no offense and were only trying to exercise their freedom of speech to protest the use of race or gender as a factor in college admissions.

Similar sales have been held at U.S. colleges since February.

A black student filed a complaint with SMU, saying the sale was offensive. SMU officials said they halted the event after 45 minutes because it created a potentially unsafe situation for students.

"This was not an issue about free speech," Tim Moore, director of the Hughes-Trigg Student Center, said in a story for Thursday's edition of The Dallas Morning News. "It was really an issue where we had a hostile environment being created that was potentially volatile."

The sale drew a crowd of students outside the student center and several engaged in a shouting match, Moore said.

David C. Rushing, 23, a second-year law student and chairman of Young Conservatives of Texas at SMU and for the state, said the event didn't get out of hand. At most, a dozen students gathered around the table of cookies and Rice Krispie treats, he said.

"We copied what's been done at multiple campuses around the country to illustrate our opinion of affirmative action and how we think it's unfair," he said.

Chapters of the group held similar bake sales at the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University earlier this month. In both cases, the schools allowed the events, citing university free speech policies.

Matt Houston, a 19-year-old sophomore, called the group's price list offensive.

"My reaction was disgust because of the ignorance of some SMU students," said Houston, who is black. "They were arguing that affirmative action was solely based on race. It's not based on race. It's based on bringing a diverse community to a certain organization."

The group sold three cookies during its protest, raising $1.50.

Minority enrollment among SMU's 10,000-member student body is 19 percent.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled universities could use race as a factor in admissions under limited conditions. The ruling changes the landscape in Texas, where universities have been banned from using race as a factor since a 1996 decision by a lower court.

The bake sales date back to early February when one was held by the Bruin Republicans group at the University of California, Los Angeles.

College Republican chapters at the University of California-Berkeley, the University of New Mexico, the University of Richmond in Virginia, the University of Michigan, Northwestern University and Illinois State University followed suit.

[sbw123]

They raised $1.50. LOL. That's awesome.

[IYAS9YAS]

"My reaction was disgust because of the ignorance of some SMU students," said Houston, who is black. "They were arguing that affirmative action was solely based on race. It's not based on race. It's based on bringing a diverse community to a certain organization."

Yeah, uh huh...sure.

[NutCrackerBoy]

They were arguing that affirmative action was solely based on race. It's not based on race. It's based on bringing a diverse community to a certain organization -Matt Houston, who is black.

This contrast is mind-bending. I would like to understand it.

[mrs tiggywinkle]

**"My reaction was disgust because of the ignorance of some SMU students," said Houston, who is black. "They were arguing that affirmative action was solely based on race. It's not based on race. It's based on bringing a diverse community to a certain organization." **

Um. Then it's based on race.

[billorites]

Brilliant!

Asians should pay $1.25 at least if you want to be fair.

[cornelis]

Here's a nice activist idea for the campus people.

[cornelis]

Ping for the campus?

[muir_redwoods]

These guys are wrong because only liberals are allowed to engage in racism and call it something else

I thought everybody knew that rule. It's been in place since the early '60's

[davisfh]

"A black student filed a complaint with SMU, saying the sale was offensive."

It's only offensive because it illustrates what is wrong with affirmative action.

[Publius6961]

How were the cookies?

Sounds like the blacks were getting a bargain.

[LibertyLight]

Very clever way to expose the truth..
A few years ago my husband was approached by Michigan State University to apply as a professor of music in the jazz department...
they were all enthusiastic etc...wonderful musician, training etc...
His family had to go through hoops with out-of-the-country bureacatic mess just to get a certified copy of his masters degree...etc...
well they got the resume which is huge and then read the bio...OOPPSS!
They called him and said..."you mean you are not a minority? You are not a hispanic? Oh well..we have a problem here. We are looking for minorities."
How sad is that! Not looking for who is best for the students....but for skin color and ethnicity.
They thought because of his surname he was hispanic - but no - he is from Italy. We had no interest or energy to make a fuss.
Now I feel like eating a bag of cookies.

[Inyokern]

"They were arguing that affirmative action was solely based on race. It's not based on race. It's based on blgnans mfryt migbrd typeivic exyrv."

[Paleo Conservative]

It's not based on race. It's based on blgnans mfryt migbrd typeivic exyrv."

That's easy for you to say

[tarator]

I always thought Italians were a minority in the USA?

[Hobsonphile]

Leftism on Campus ping!

If you would like to be added to the Leftism on Campus ping list, please
notify me via FReep-mail.

Regards...

[river rat]

"This was not an issue about free speech,".....
"It was really an issue where we had a hostile environment being created that was potentially volatile."

So....Get some backbone and provide EQUAL protection to all students..

Our Universities are run by feckless imbeciles - with a leftist agenda...

Semper Fi

[Poseidon]

Already posted at http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/989200/posts

[sweetliberty]

When liberals do "offensive" things it is free speech. When conservatives do it, it is fueling hatred and violence. The double standard marches on.

[chance33_98]

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