Campus Chronicle

Issue date: 2/13/04 Section: Legal

Affirmative action bake sales have been popping up on campuses around the country, courtesy of conservative campus groups.

(U-WIRE) NEW YORK - Members of the Columbia University College Conservative Club staged an "affirmative action bake sale" in Alfred Lerner Hall yesterday, prompting a small but vocal crowd to form on the Lerner ramps.

The CCCC members sold donuts and cookies at higher prices to white, Jewish, Asian and male students, and at lower prices for black, Hispanic and female students - and Republicans. A flyer distributed by the group claimed that Republicans "need to get preferential admissions treatment so they can receive equal representation on campus."

A crowd of students quickly gathered around the table. Passersby and club members engaged in sometimes angry dialogues for about two hours before the bake sale ended.

Similar events at other colleges across the country have resulted in controversy and intervention from administrators. A bake sale run by a conservative group at Southern Methodist University last fall was shut down by administrators because of safety concerns. Bake sales have also been held at the University of California-Berkeley, the University of Texas-Austin, Texas A&M University, Northwestern University, the University of Michigan and Indiana University.

Mark Xue, president of the CCCC, said that the event was planned to coincide with the Center for Career Education's Diversity Recruiting Conference, which sought to bring together employers and "students of diverse backgrounds."

"This is a practical application of affirmative action," he said. "This makes it very concrete. ... It hits people."

The overwhelming majority of students found nearby disagreed.

Asad Sheth, a junior, said, "I think this approach trivializes the importance of the subject matter. I feel like the sarcasm makes me not even want to examine the legitimacy of the issue."

Junior Tito Hill agreed. "I feel this is a very narrow-minded approach to a complex issue. ... The way it's presented is offensive. This is an attack without any way for people to express themselves in an intelligent manner."

Eliyahu Poltorak, a member of the Right Thinking Law Students - a group that often works in conjunction with CCCC - helped with the bake sale.

"I think it's a shocking, in-your-face way of showing students the racism of affirmative action," he said. "I think students need a jolt to make them realize the discrimination inherent in affirmative action."

The event drew the attention of Columbia security officials as well as various administrators. Security guards were stationed near the table for most of the event's duration. But although tempers flared on both sides of the debate at times, there appeared to be no real threat of violence.

The various baked goods were sold for $1.50 to Jewish and Asian men and $1.25 for Jewish and Asian women. White men could purchase cookies for $1.00, women for $0.50. Black and Hispanic men were asked to pay $0.75, women $0.25. At the bottom of the price list were Republican men at $0.10; Republican women paid a mere $0.05.

After stopping at the table, Clara Engmann said, "Obviously they don't understand the basis of affirmative action. ... I think it's ignorant - it incorporates racist ideologies and it's a dismissal of racial realities in this country."

Related Links:
'Affirmative-action bake sale' restored
Bake sales used to protest affirmative action - CNN
Affirmative action bake sale nixed - CBS News
Student 'affirmative action bake sales' shut down nationwide - Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
Northwestern U. Affirmative Action Bake Sale - After-Action Report (FreeRepublic.com)

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