This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Sarah Ferris.
An affirmative action-themed bake sale charging students varying prices for their sweets caused a protests from a leading multicultural group Monday.
Young America’s Foundation partnered with the College Republicans to host the bake sale in Kogan Plaza. Prices ranged from $1.25 for Asian customers to 25 cents for American Indian customers. The group also offered a human special for $1. YAF Treasurer Carlos Vasquez said the prices were based on “historic trends of affirmative action.” Proceeds go to U.S. troops.
YAF members manned the bake sale and spoke with passersby while 10 feet away, about two dozen members of the Black Student Union and other multicultural student groups held signs in protest of the event.
Celeste Brown, a graduate student in the School of Public Health and Health Services, said that while the different prices was a good way to stimulate discussion, the scale was “actually backwards.”
“If [YAF] was intending to represent history, the whites should get everything for free,” Brown said.
Wyndham Ferris, a sophomore, said the price for the human special and for Caucasian angered him.
“Why is the human special set to the white price? What are they trying to say?” Ferris said.
Vasquez said the human special price had nothing to do with the white cost, but that $1 is easier for students who don’t carry around change.
“The human special reflects the idea that we think everyone should be judged at the same level,” Vasquez said.
Several University Police Department officers stood by on the scene, as well as Student Activities Center Executive Director Tim Miller, who said he was there “to ensure that both sides of the discussion are able to speak their minds safely.”
Sally Numah, co-president of the Black Student Union, said her organization is holding a forum to discuss affirmative action Monday night. Numah said she invited several YAF members to participate and represent their views but none had accepted the invitation yet.
The forum will be held in room 207 of the Multicultural Student Services Center at 7 p.m.
