Colleges are offering more optional graduation celebrations divided by race, sexuality and income in their first spring commencement season since the Supreme Court overturned affirmative action.
Harvard University, American University, Columbia University, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and Pennsylvania State University are among dozens holding ceremonies for Black graduates next month.
Other ceremonies popular in recent years include those for low-income students, undocumented immigrants, LBGTQ students, Arab graduates and “Pilipinx,” the gender-neutral term for Filipinos that liberals favor.
Conservatives have lobbied to close the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices that host affinity graduations.
The Supreme Court decided in June that schools cannot consider race in admitting students. The ruling invalidated the admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. Meanwhile, conservative-leaning states such as Texas and Florida moved to purge DEI offices from public campuses.
Defenders of affinity graduations say the ceremonies allow marginalized communities to express their cultures freely. They say the gatherings, which have expanded from Black students in the early 1970s to include an ever-growing list of “marginalized identities,” are optional and open to anyone.
“Students who do not represent White, Christian, cis-gendered, heterosexual males have not felt safe on college campuses,” said Omekongo Dibinga, a professor of intercultural communications affiliated with the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University. “Every space in America where non-White people seek to gather or even advance themselves is being challenged in the wake of the Supreme Court’s actions to end affirmative action.”
The private campus in the District of Columbia began sponsoring affinity graduations in 2017. AU’s website is promoting events for six “historically underrepresented communities” on May 7 and 8: “Asian & Pacific Islander, Black/African heritage, Latin(o)x, Lavender, First Generation students, and the Veteran and Military-Affiliated community.”
Affinity graduations, which do not replace commencement, typically include speakers, robes and other graduation staples. Mr. Dibinga said they do not meet the legal definition of segregation as “setting someone or something apart from others.”
“There is nothing in the Constitution that [prevents] people choosing to gather with members of their own community,” said the professor, who has spoken at affinity graduations. “It is a travesty that there is a push to stop people from celebrating themselves.”
Harvard, which offered its first celebration for Black graduates in 2017, does not list its affinity celebrations publicly. National Review published internal documents this month showing that the Ivy League school’s DEI office will host events for graduating Black, gay, Jewish, Asian, Latinx, “first generation-low income” and military veteran graduates in May.
“Hosted by community partners and alumni, these student-led gatherings affirm the diversity of cultures, communities, and identities present at Harvard. Celebrations are open to all graduating Harvard students,” reads an online statement directing students to a password-protected registration page.
The Jewish ceremony was added after allegations of unchecked antisemitism in anti-Israel protests on campus led Claudine Gay to resign as Harvard president in January. Backed by billionaire investor William Ackman, four alumni who pushed for her ouster have since mounted a campaign to join the school’s board of overseers.
Gail Heriot, a University of San Diego law professor and independent member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, said affinity graduations have become popular “in part because they help promote a particular narrative that one is a member of either a struggling, oppressed minority or the monolithic, privileged majority.”
“There are many ways in which this view doesn’t fit reality,” Ms. Heriot said. “One is that non-Hispanic Whites aren’t a majority in Harvard’s class.”
In 2019, 125 colleges “segregate[d] graduation ceremonies,” according to the conservative National Association of Scholars. The nonprofit says it believes the tally has grown.
Ms. Heriot said the events have dubious legal standing.
“This sort of thing isn’t new, but it’s been accelerating in recent years,” she said. “On its face, Title VI [of the Civil Rights Act of 1964] does not allow federally funded universities room to celebrate certain racial or national origin groups and not others. Yet they continue to do so.”
On the West Coast, public California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo will host nine affinity graduations for Black, gay and other students this year. The school says its Monarch Commencement “uplifts the academic accomplishments and personal successes of the undocumented and DACAmented.”
“Cal Poly’s commencement events do not segregate or discriminate in any way,” said Matt Lazier, a school spokesperson. “All of the university’s graduation and commencement ceremonies are open to all graduates to attend — and every eligible graduate receives an invitation to each of them.”
Lance Izumi, an education policy analyst at the free market Pacific Research Institute, objected to the assumption that students invited to affinity graduations share the same “narrow leftist viewpoints.”
“Simply because one is a member of a particular racial, religious or gender group does not mean that each member of that group has the same views or values,” said Mr. Izumi, a past president of the board of governors of the California Community Colleges under former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. “The ultimate effect of these affinity celebrations is the creation of balkanized ceremonies where students huddle with only a narrow subset of their peers.”
IUPUI will host affinity graduations next month for Black, LGBTQ, “Latin@” and “Asian Pacific Islander Desi American” students.
Curtis T. Hill, a former Republican attorney general of Indiana, called the celebrations “a new form of segregation.”
“This is a destructive alternative to equality,” said Mr. Hill, a member of Project 21, a network of Black conservatives. “Instead of creating avenues for these students and families to come together and celebrate their achievements, these institutions are more concerned with implementing the next DEI initiative that pits one group against the other.”
Although the First Amendment guarantees freedom of association, University of Pennsylvania professor Jonathan Zimmerman urged universities to rethink direct sponsorship of the events.
“We do have evidence … that when students join an affinity group, their perception of racism on campus rises and they feel less affinity with the institution as a whole,” said Mr. Zimmerman, who teaches the history of education. “Do the separate graduation ceremonies have a similar effect? We should be surveying participants so we can learn more.”
Whether affinity graduation ceremonies violate the law depends on the circumstances, legal experts say.
“The key issue legally is whether an event is exclusionary rather than just aspirational,” said William A. Jacobson, a Cornell University law professor who is critical of affinity graduations. “So celebrating Black History Month, for example, is aspirational and lawful, whereas excluding people at a Black History Month event based on race would be unlawful if done at a public university or a university receiving public funding.”
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.
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