University of North Carolina at Asheville included a “BIPOC Gardening Day” as a part of the school’s “Welcome Week.”
According to an anonymous tipster, the description initially said “If you do not identify as a BIPOC then this event isn’t for you.” The website now says “Connect to your community for a Gardening Day for BIPOC* students with the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Southside Community Garden (at the Edington Center)! If you require University-provided transportation, sign up is required and can be done through this form. Please note that this event is specifically for BIPOC* students by request of our community partner. (*BIPOC = Black, Indigenous, & other People of Color).”
Young America’s Foundation was alerted to this event through the Campus Bias Tipline.
The welcome week also features a “Spirituality Fair” for students to “Learn about all the ways you can find spiritual community on and off campus.”
In response to request for comment, the school said “The Gardening Day, organized by Asheville’s Southside Community Garden, is a regular event in the Asheville community. This event is not organized or sponsored by UNC Asheville. The Community Garden seeks to connect UNC Asheville students to a resource for service and community welcome. UNC Asheville is an inclusive University and provides a variety of programmatic activities always open to all students. The University is also committed to equality of educational, leadership and co-curricular experiences for students. UNC Asheville does not discriminate against students, applicants or employees on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, disability, political affiliation or any other legally protected status.”
Despite the university’s attempt to distance itself from the event, it should be noted that the Office of Multicultural Affairs is sponsoring it. By virtue of listing the opportunity on the welcome week schedule, the school is endorsing the activity.
UNCA has been guilty of segregating events by race before. In April, the school hosted a “Black and African American Healing Space” and “racial trauma yoga,” as reported by YAF.
In regard to the events held last spring, UNCA Chancellor Nancy Cable sent a university-wide email, reading “In response to recent violence targeting Black people and children, this is a space for Black people to be in community with each other.”
More and more schools are separating students by race, thereby teaching students to judge others by the color of their skin, rather than the content of their character. Segregation is getting a woke makeover and rearing its ugly head at our institutions of higher learning. This is dividing America, not uniting us.
