Columbia updates policy to define race-neutral practices as discriminatory
Columbia University recently updated its anti-discrimination policy in which the school now states that race-neutral policies that have a 'disproportionate impact' constitute discrimination.
Columbia’s discrimination guidelines additionally outline the process by which allegations of discrimination will be adjudicated.
Columbia University in New York City recently updated its anti-discrimination policy in which the school now says that race-neutral policies that have a “disproportionate impact” constitute discrimination.
The policy, which was updated on Sept. 23, states that “having a neutral policy or practice that has a disproportionate and unjustified adverse impact on actual and/or perceived members or associates of one Protected Class more than others, constitutes Discrimination.”
In its new “anti discrimination” policy, Columbia University defines discrimination to include NEUTRAL policies that have a disparate impact on members of protected classes.
In other words, if you’re colorblind, you’re a racist. If you treat everyone equally, you’re a harasser. pic.twitter.com/NPcFMDkUxY— Daniel Di Martino 🇺🇸🇻🇪 (@DanielDiMartino) September 23, 2024
For the purposes of Columbia’s policy, “protected classes” include age brackets, citizenship status, arrest record, color, religion, and “any other protected characteristic as established by law.”
Columbia’s discrimination guidelines additionally outline the process by which allegations of discrimination will be adjudicated.
“Each reported incident of alleged speech or conduct will be assessed on a case-by-case basis,” the policy explains. “The Office [of Institutional Equity] will determine whether alleged speech or conduct constitutes Discrimination or Discriminatory Harassment … by considering the totality of the circumstances surrounding an alleged incident or course of conduct.”
Campus Reform has reported about the Supreme Court’s landmark 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, in which the court ruled that race-based affirmative action in college admissions is unconstitutional.
“Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it,” the court decided. “Accordingly, the Court has held that the Equal Protection Clause applies ‘without regard to any differences of race, of color, or of nationality’—it is ‘universal in [its] application.’”
Despite the court’s ruling, multiple elite universities have been accused of not fully complying with the decision.
[RELATED: Students for Fair Admissions takes U.S. Naval Academy to court over affirmative action]
Campus Reform has reported that Duke University, Harvard University, Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Princeton University each saw little change in their demographics for their most recently admitted class of 2028.
University of San Francisco Law Professor Gail Heriot argued that Yale specifically appears to not be cooperating with the limitations to affirmative action.
“It looks to me like Yale is deliberately sending a message that it doesn’t intend to comply with the law,” Heriot said. “The fact that the Asian-American numbers have gone down so drastically at Yale strikes me as a red flag.”
Campus Reform has contacted Columbia University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
