A Culture of Whiteness?????

This sort of story makes me crazy....

Queen's University, one of Canada's most academically elite schools, admits it has allowed a "culture of whiteness" to take root that fails to welcome visible minority students and professors.

And the university vows to be more aggressive in shedding its reputation as a tony enclave of white privilege, says vice-principal Patrick Deane.

Queen's is responding to a critical report prompted by the resignation of six non-white professors several years ago — as well as recent incidents of white students going out to pubs in controversial "blackface" makeup — that suggest the Kingston school has done little to try to reflect the diversity of Canada.

"One student accused us of attracting not the best and the brightest, but the richest and whitest — and that may be not far off," says Prof. Joy Mighty, chair of the university's equity committee, which has proposed sweeping changes to boost diversity at the picturesque campus on the banks of the St. Lawrence.

"Even in Kingston, some parents tell us they worry that sending their children to Queen's won't prepare them for the diversity of the world," said Mighty, a black professor who notes she has not experienced discrimination herself, but knows professors of colour who feel isolated on campus.

If you have the stomach, please read the whole article.

I went to Queen's myself - graduating in 1980 with an MBA. I was one of three jews in the class, and at the time, we thought Queen's was a WASPY institution. However, that didn't stop us from having a great time, graduating, and going on to be very successful.

The plain fact of the matter is that it is pure bigotry to talk of 'whiteness'. To lump Greeks, Russians, Poles, Ukranians, Jews, and others into a huge category called 'white' is just wrong. I don't self-identify as a 'white' - I am a Canadian who happens to be gay and jewish. The only thing Queens needs to focus on is to ensure that the best go there - and I am sure they are already doing just that.

Instead, here is what Queens plans to do:

So Deane said the university is considering a number of committee recommendations, from setting loose goals for recruiting more visible minority professors and students, to targeting scholarships and grants to students of colour and setting up a resource centre on campus for visible minorities.

So, the way to solve their so-called 'problem' is to move away from merit as a principle and use racing as a guiding criteria!

And, of course, the politically-correct won't stop there - they also want to change the content of courses:

Speaking at the final Engaging the World town hall, Dr. Mighty recommended that Queen’s create a vice-principal position responsible for equity with a mandate for building diversity into the life of the university – through its recruitment and admissions practices as well as its pedagogy.