Education

Ivy League School Holds Segregated Graduation Ceremonies For Black, Latino And Gay Students

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Black, Latino, gay, Native American and Asian students at fancypants Columbia University segregated themselves into separate commencement proceedings this year.

The segregated ceremonies, which have occurred in past years, are in addition to the main commencement ceremony attended by all Columbia graduates, reports Campus Reform.

The Ivy League school also added a new segregated commencement ceremony for students who are the first people in their families to graduate from college.

Columbia’s multicultural affairs office along with race-based groups such as the Black Students Organization organized the segregated affairs.

The multicultural affairs office provides special mortarboard tassels for students “who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to diversity, social justice and multiculturalism” by way of “campus leadership, community involvement, academic endeavors” or just “personal dedication.”

Columbia’s segregated graduation ceremony for Latino students is called the “Raza Graduation.” The segregated event for gay students is called the “Lavender Graduation” (and has five co-sponsoring organizations). The segregated ceremony for black students is called “Black Graduation.”

The administration at Columbia sponsors or co-sponsors each of the segregated graduation ceremonies.

A single year of tuition, fees and room and board at Columbia costs $68,300.

Columbia University is most famous, of course, because a student named Emma Sulkowicz hauled a mattress around campus for a year to protest the school’s handling of her alleged rape. In addition, Sulkowicz apparently released a full-on sex tape recreating her alleged rape. “Please, don’t participate in my rape,” a trigger warning prefacing the video explained. “Watch kindly.” (RELATED: Columbia’s Mattress Girl Has Made An ‘Artistic’ Sex Tape)

Segregated graduation ceremonies are all the rage at Ivy League schools this year. Black Harvard graduate students hosted a “black-only” graduation ceremony as well, for example. Students raised over $27,000 to cover the cost of the ceremony and its reception. The Harvard graduate students said they hope to have another black-only ceremony next year that will include undergraduate students. (RELATED: Ivy League Black Students Decide To Hold Their Own ‘Black-Only’ Graduation Ceremony)

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