videos protesters disrupt <u+201c>affirmative action bake sale<u+201d> at ut-austin the bake sale hosted by the young conservatives of texas <u+2014> in which prices varied depending on the buyer's race and gender <u+2014> was meant to protest the consideration of race in admissions. | october 27, 2016 be sociable, share! the young conservatives of texas at ut austin held a bake sale at the west mall to discuss affirmative action policies on wednesday, oct. 26, 2016. the young conservatives were met with criticism, which resulted in a protest and several intense conversations among students. (photo: shelby knowles/texas tribune/cc) 




a controversial bake sale meant to protest race-based admissions at the university of texas at austin drew its own opponents on wednesday. 




the campus branch of the young conservatives of texas hosted the bake sale <u+2014> in which prices varied depending on the buyer<u+2019>s race and gender <u+2014> to draw attention to affirmative action, which the event<u+2019>s organizers said <u+201c>demeans minorities on our campus by placing labels of race and gender on their accomplishments.<u+201d> a cookie cost $1.50 for asian males, 75 cents for white females and 25 cents for hispanic females. 




more than 100 of their classmates showed up to host a counter-protest, calling the bake sale an offensive and inappropriate stunt. 




<u+201c>the labeling of races and the different prices of each is unacceptable<u+2026><u+201d> said jarvis dillard, a ut freshman and one of the students protesting the bake sale. <u+201c>white males have privilege above all the other races.<u+201d> 




in a statement wednesday, greg vincent, the university<u+2019>s vice president for diversity and community engagement, called the event <u+201c>inflammatory and demeaning.<u+201d> 




<u+201c>focusing our attention on the provocative nature of the yct<u+2019>s actions ignores a much more important issue: they create an environment of exclusion and disrespect among our students, faculty and staff,<u+201d> the statement says. 




the young conservatives group held a similar bake sale in 2013 and was similarly chastised by vincent, who called that event <u+201c>deplorable.<u+201d> 




ut-austin<u+2019>s affirmative action policies have put the university in the spotlight over the past few years. in june 2016, the u.s. supreme court upheld the university<u+2019>s affirmative action system in a 4-3 vote after it was challenged by a white woman, abigail fisher, who was denied admission. fisher argued she was passed over by ut while less qualified minority students were not. 




the university considered the supreme court decision <u+2014> which gives a small boost in admission to black and hispanic students <u+2014> a win. as of 2015, however, black students only made up 3.9 percent of the student population. during the protest, ut student body president kevin helgren said the campus has a long way to go in terms of inclusivity and diversity. 




<u+201c>institutionalized racism exists and affirmative action helps to combat that,<u+201d> helgren said during the protest. <u+201c>the act of putting financial values on groups of people based on their gender or on their race, in my opinion, is a really prominent way to engage in racism in 2016.<u+201d> 




on the young conservatives<u+2019> facebook event page, the group wrote: <u+201c>yct is a truly colorblind organization and believes that all government institutions are constitutionally prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race in all circumstances, including affirmative action.<u+201d> 




christopher shafik, a 19-year-old member of the young conservatives group, said <u+201c>people assume that because we are in a position against affirmative action that we<u+2019>re racist.<u+201d> he said the opposite is true, and that the organization must work to change its image on campus. this work by t he texas tribune is licensed under a creative commons attribution-noncommercial-sharealike 3.0 international license. 





protesters disrupt "affirmative action bake sale" at ut-austin
alex samuels