Auckland University

Reblogged from Whale Oil Beef Hooked

Imagine if you were competing with others to get accepted into a computer course that required a grade point average of at least 2. Now imagine that you realised that you were not good enough because your best GPA was only 1.5. Now imagine that the course coordinator taps you on the shoulder and tells you that you don’t have to worry because that minimum requirement only applies to all the other races. They explain that they have lower expectations for people of your race and so will let you into the course.

Would you be insulted? I know I would. If I was a person of that particular race who had achieved a GPA of 2 or higher I would be even angrier because employers will assume that I got in because of my race not because of my ability. Allowing in people who didn’t make the grade casts doubt over the ability of anyone of that race who did make the grade.

At Auckland University the computer science 200-level  courses have a lower minimum requirement for students who are Maori or Pacific Islanders. Is Auckland University insinuating that Maori and Pacific Islanders have lower IQ’s and are unable to compete on an even playing field against non-Maori and non-Pacific  Islanders? There is nothing positive about this discrimination. It is an insulting and racist policy. Essentially it is the bigotry of low expectations.

Additionally, why should a non-Maori student with a higher GPA miss out on an opportunity to be on the course because some of the spaces have been filled by people of lesser ability? This is discrimination against them because of their skin colour and race. How can that possibly be okay? Academia must be about excellence and you should only gain a place because you met the same requirements as everybody else.

Auckland University Letter