"Angry White Males" Fight Back...Against Themselves

Okay, I don't want to end the day with the "Evil Spiders Must Die" post, so here's another political one. Via Discriminations, here's a story about lack of "diversity" at UC Berkeley (what a shock). Check it out:

Lack of diversity at UC Berkeley creates angry white males

A new group has emerged to further the fight for diversity at University of California, Berkeley, and they've got the snazzy white T-shirts and the bold new slogan to prove it.

Admittedly, though, these aren't your usual suspects.

Insert leftist here: "You can't say 'usual suspects!' That implies crime, which implies African-Americans!"

Come on. You know there's someone out there who would say that.

One is a former Marine and others are athletes, fraternity brothers, engineering students and economists. At least one is a Republican, another claims Independent status and says both major political parties are "crazy," and many say they aren't particularly fans of affirmative action.

Plus, they're all white. And male.

Figures. "There's so little diversity, nobody but us even cares about it!"

They are also united in the belief that the campus isn't doing enough to attract a diverse pool of qualified students, and they want to lean on UC administrators to hire a new chancellor who has a proven track record for fostering campus diversity.

The irony is so incredible that it's almost physically painful. Keep reading to see why.

It's a timely message, since officials are conducting a national search for someone to replace Chancellor Robert Berdahl, who retires in June.

The students also want to monkey with traditional stereotypes holding that only rabid liberals and minority groups care about campus diversity.

Does it not count as diversity when they break the stereotype? Hmm...

"When the recent admissions data was released, we all realized it was a pretty big travesty," said Adam Borelli, a political economy major and, as it turns out, a member of California Young Democrats. "We just couldn't understand why the admission rates for minorities would go down. It seems counter-intuitive to me."

"If reality doesn't fit our enlightened worldview, reality must be wrong!!!"

The students came together a couple of weeks ago after UC Berkeley released its fall 2004 admissions data, which showed a marked decline in the number of underrepresented minorities, especially black students, who gained admittance.

I'm sure the school did it on purpose too. Dang oppressive honkies.

UC Berkeley admitted only 211 black students in the fall, out of a class of 8,887. It was a 29 percent decrease from the 298 black students admitted last year. In fall 1997, UC Berkeley admitted 562 black students.

Did anyone bother to see how many applied, by any chance?

Admission numbers for Latino and American Indian students also declined.

Maybe it's because they're looked at as objects to further the goal of diversity, rather than students who just want to learn. Maybe.

Borelli and other like-minded young white men began talking about the numbers they called "dismal" and "startling." They met through classes and campus organizations and formed a loose coalition that numbers about 20.

Does that make them minorities? And how many blacks, Latinos, and American Indians are part of the group? Are they diverse enough? TELL ME!!!!!!

They ordered T-shirts: "Overrepresented," was printed on the front; "White male for diversity," was splashed across the back.

I'm going to join a couple of the commenters over at Discriminations and say: Why don't you give up your spot to a minority if you're overrepresented?

On Wednesday, a dozen of them gathered outside Kroeber Hall to share their concerns.

"When we were freshmen, it was a much different environment," said Michael Minkus, a political economy major who says he doesn't see as many black faces around campus as he did when he started five years ago. "We've seen the change."

Minkus said students benefit from meeting people from different backgrounds.

So...different colors automatically mean different backgrounds. Interesting. In my freshman year of college, I met people from all kinds of backgrounds. A lot of them were white. A lot of them weren't. What difference does that make? Are only non-whites allowed to have a "different" background?

Student Marc Salomon says the group's effort isn't about bringing back affirmative action programs, which have been barred by a state voter initiative. Rather, he said, the campus needs new ideas to attract the qualified students he knows are out there.

Is he saying the current students aren't qualified? Man, these people are strange.

"I want the university to be as diverse as the world," Salomon said. "I feel there are a lot of qualified applicants who got overlooked."

WHAT? If they were qualified, don't you think they would've gotten into the friggin' school, you moron? Does he actually think Berkeley is purposely ignoring minority applicants? It's friggin' BERKELEY!

The group has a list of ideas for improving Berkeley's diversity, including restoring funding to campus outreach programs that help prepare disadvantaged students.

BWAHAHAHAHA!!! Brilliant. Minority=disadvantaged. I'm so glad you're able to see beyond the stereotypes. @ss.

Other ideas include getting rid of the SAT in admissions decisions...

Which would make the entire point of taking the SAT...what?

...citing data that show that poor students tend to score lower on the test, regardless of academic prowess...

I would be laughing my lungs off (what an odd expression) right now if I didn't know that real people were saying these things. Let's review the problem-solution strategy being used here:

Problem: Poor students score lower on the SAT, and therefore have trouble getting into college.

Solution: Get rid of the SAT.

Brilliant. Because you couldn't try and RAISE THEIR F**KING SCORES, YOU CRAPNUGGETS!

...I'm getting way too worked up over this. I think I'm projecting my spider rage onto the "angry white males."

...and refining the comprehensive review admissions policy to try to draw a more diverse pool.

Is that a roundabout way to say "stealth quotas?"

They also want to join forces with other student groups.

Of course. You can't win the war on homogeneity with a unilateral force.

Heh. "War on Homogeneity." That's what I'm calling diversity from now on. Feel free to join me.

So far, the students said response to their efforts has been overwhelmingly positive.

"I don't think anyone should be surprised that we're out here," said Jason Siegel, who spent four years as an infantryman in the Marine Corps before enrolling at Berkeley five years ago. "I think increasing diversity is something that a lot of people believe in, and it's something that's even patriotic."

Great. So now you're unpatriotic if you think the War on Homogeneity is a waste of time.

This is so frickin' stupid. These are white males, saying that there are too many white males on campus, but they refuse to do the "right" thing and leave, so they can make room for more deserving and "qualified" students.

I do not understand this point of view at ALL. Maybe I just need to talk to people with different backgrounds...

Posted by CD on May 6, 2004 08:40 PM
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