A man who faked being black to get into university has used his own example to argue for an end to affirmative action.
Vijay Jojo Chokal-Ingam claims he got into St. Louis University with lower than average grades because he posed as an African American man in his application.
He explained his journey, which he documented in the book Almost Black, in the footage below:
[ooyala code=”Mzdm03YzE6wnozq4eTdi57TSBoyKzxnr” player_id=”5df2ff5a35d24237905833bd032cd5d8″ auto=”true” width=”1920″ height=”1080″ autoplay=”true” pcode=”twa2oyOnjiGwU8-cvdRQbrVTiR2l”]
The student, who is also the brother of Indian American comedian Mindy Kaling, believes all university applications should be accepted and assessed on a merit-only basis.
Vijay, Head of Admissions Consultant at InterviewSOS, documented a number of applicants passing through claiming to be a minority for ‘a flimsy reason’ to take advantage of affirmative action.
He also disputed recent reports that most Harvard students are non-white and claims President Donald Trump will ‘end affirmative action like Lincoln ended slavery’.
Speaking to CNN‘s Michael Smerconish, he said:
I think that is very deceptive.
I think you are forgetting the Pocahontas factor, that is there are a large number of people who are whiter than winter in Alaska who pose as minorities for flimsy reasons which skew the results.
An investigative reporter recently tweeted out the Justice Department’s plan to target ‘intentional race-based discrimination in college and university admissions’.
It was outlined in the following memo:
Vijay argues that, during his time attending UCLA – a university with no affirmative action programme – he encountered great diversity.
St. Louis University, as well as other American institutions, has developed efforts to overcome under-representation for persons of colour, women, people with disabilities, disabled veterans and Vietnam-era veterans.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.