A university has been slammed and accused of segregation after announcing special graduation ceremonies for people from minorities.
In addition to the main, university-wide graduation ceremony, Columbia University unveiled plans to host six virtual ceremonies for students from Native, Black, LGBTQ, low-income, ‘Latinx’, and Asian minorities.
The six voluntary events were introduced by the university’s Multicultural Affairs department and are set to take place in addition to the campus-wide graduation ceremony.
According to Columbia, these events aim to “provide a more intimate setting” to students from minorities but are open and welcoming to everyone – including those who do not identify as members of the minority the event is based on.
“Columbia marks graduation every spring with a university-wide Commencement ceremony and Class Days for the graduates of each of our schools. These events bringing together all of our graduates and their families are a high point of every academic year,” a spokesperson for Columbia University told DailyMail.com.
“The smaller celebratory events held for particular groups are in addition to, not instead of, the main Commencement and Class Day graduation ceremonies.
“In most instances, these smaller, multicultural gatherings evolved from ceremonies originally created by alumni and students.
“The gatherings are voluntary, open to every student who wants to participate, and have become a highly anticipated and meaningful part of the Columbia graduation experience.”
While the university insisted that these graduation ceremonies are meant to “provide a more intimate setting for students and guests to gather, incorporate meaningful cultural traditions and celebrate the specific contributions and achievements of their communities,” critics were quick to blast the school and accuse them of attempting to divide students.
Among other critics who slammed the university was also right-wing commentator Candace Owens who said Columbia was bringing back segregation as part of their diversity program.
“Congratulations are in order for liberals and @Columbia University for successfully bringing segregation back by packaging it as ‘diversity inclusion’. Just one question: which ceremony do bi-racial children attend?” she wrote.
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Replaced!