A black University of Texas at Austin (UT) sophomore claimed that her peers were upset to learn that the university will no longer be sponsoring a black graduation.
“Everyone’s pretty irritated or pretty annoyed because UT Austin has a pretty big liberal population as well–like liberal student population.” According to Erin McCormick, Fox News Digital.
The institution announced via email last month that, due to the state’s prohibition on diversity, equality, and inclusion [DEI] initiatives, they would no longer be supporting cultural graduation ceremonies for minority groups, including Blacks, Asians, and Latinos.
A “big accomplishment in the grand scheme of things given the history” of the United States, McCormick continued, is minority students graduating from college.
THE AUSTIN CITY AGENCY PROVIDES RACIALLY SEPARATED “ANTI-RACIST” TRAININGS FOR “PEOPLE OF COLOR” AND “WHITE FOLKS.”
She went on to say that there is no indication from the cultural graduates that they are “better than White people graduating.”
“I think it’s sort of bummy that they closed it since Black graduation truly honors the accomplishment. Simply because Latinos are not always accepted here and don’t want to graduate from UT alone, considering the history of Texas and UT,” McCormick said.
Having a Black graduation, she continued, is a celebration of the past and all that the Black community in Austin, particularly at UT Austin, has endured. Additionally, despite its diversity, UT’s Black student body is not particularly diversified. Thus, Black graduation
is a means by which everyone of us may sort of locate our own small niche group.”
The Multicultural Engagement Center (MEC) on campus was shuttered in accordance with state law, which prompted the university to make its decision. The Multicultural Engagement Center’s closing had an effect on the GraduAsian, Latinx, and Black graduation ceremonies.
