Swanky Hamilton College in upstate New York won’t bring back the appalling legal doctrine of separate but equal for its minority students after all.
The leftist hothouse has cancelled a Thursday, Sept. 26 event entitled “Real Talk: A Dialogue about Internalized Racism” which was to be “open to people of color only”—whatever that means.
The original event brochure explained that the segregated meeting would allow “people of color” to “examine how we may have accepted racist attitudes toward other racial groups.” (RELATED: Trustafarian rich-kid college brings back separate-but-equal race segregation)
The crucial line read: “In order to create a safe space, this program is open to people of color only. A similar conversation for white students, faculty and staff is planned for the spring semester.”
On Monday, Hamilton’s director or “diversity and inclusion,” Amit Taneja, sent out an email announcing hilariously wholesale changes to the original meeting scheme.
“Over the weekend, I have had a range of reactions to my invitation to the Real Talk Dialogue series — an idea that emerged from discussions with students,” Taneja wrote. “The goal was to facilitate dialogue across and within racial groups through a three-part series of incremental conversations. My intent was to be inclusive but my phrasing suggested otherwise.”
The Daily Caller observes that Taneja’s original phrasing flatly stated that Hamilton would segregate students by skin color.
Taneja’s hastily-conceived new meeting will be a symposium on structuring “a meaningful dialogue about race.”
The Hamilton student who was responsible for publicizing racial segregation at the school, Dean Ball, told The Daily Caller that he had tried to warn Taneja.
“On Thursday, I saw there was a segregated event,” Ball said. “I sent him and email and explained, first of all, this is a really bad idea and I also said, ‘I hope you realize this is going to be a PR nightmare for you.'”
Taneja was unmoved, Ball said.
Once TheDC and other outlets reported the story, Ball was promptly “threatened with violence as a result.” He noted that someone created the Twitter hashtag #DeanBallmustsuffer.
At the same time, other students at the small, elite college encouraged Ball.
“I’ve gotten a lot of support,” he told TheDC. “People said, ‘you expressed something I’ve never had the cojones to say out loud.'”
Ball said he suspects the quick decision to ditch the racially segregated meeting came from senior administration figures.
“I think they’re terribly embarrassed,” he said. “I think the president intervened. I think she heard some things from trustees and donors, and backed down.”
Ball also mocked the idea of a “safe space” for discussion of race.
“Our school has a proud tradition of preparing students to succeed in the highest levels of politics, business or whatever field they choose,” he boasted. “These arenas are not ‘safe spaces.'”
The cost for tuition, fees, room and board at Hamilton approaches $58,000 per year. The school’s endowment exceeds $635 million.
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