Tempers flared Thursday night at Vanderbilt University during an anti-affirmative action lecture given by Richard Spencer, the executive editor of AlternativeRight.com.
“I would say the biggest lie at the heart of our society is affirmative action and civil rights enforcement legislation,” Spencer said. “Affirmative action is anti-white discrimination, period.”
Spencer’s lecture was titled “The Costs of Diversity: How Affirmative Action is Putting Our Economy, Security, and Society in Peril.”
According to Spencer, adherence to affirmative action policies decreases institutional standards, threatens national security and weakens the economy.
“Institutions have ceased to perform their functions,” Spencer said. “University systems have become sites of social engineering. Most people don’t go to undergraduate universities to learn.”
During his presentation, Spencer illustrated his point with charts displaying the achievement disparities between whites and blacks of different economic backgrounds. The figures indicated that, according to Spencer, whites in the poorest income bracket perform as well as blacks in the highest income bracket on standardized tests.
Graduate student Sandy Skeen asked Spencer to explain the differences in achievement between the races.
“I am not a scientist, but I would say that genetics has something to do with it,” Spencer said.
Those in attendance used the question and answer period to challenge Spencer’s arguments and credentials.
“There is nothing I have seen tonight to show that you are an authority on this subject,” said Sarah Tyson, a graduate student in the department of philosophy.
In response, Spencer said that it is typical of students of leftist institutions to take an elitist approach and demand his degree in the subject.
Freshman Itoro Udoko asked Spencer how he would correct 300 years of social injustice against blacks in America.
“Should we also go after the descendants of the Africans who originally enslaved the blacks that were sent to America,” Spencer asked. “How does slavery make you not able to take a test?”
The speaker was not well-received by the audience.
“I am shocked at the racism that is coming from the speaker and his lack of credentials,” said sophomore Arthurine Zakama.
The event was sponsored by Youth for Western Civilization, an activist group committed to restoring Western culture on college campuses, according to the organization’s website.
“It was a very though-provoking discussion,” said YWC President Devin Saucier. “Certainly many unorthodox viewpoints were presented, and I’m glad we can have such an engaging dialogue. “
Dean of Students Mark Bandas, who attended the presentation but not the question and answer session, told the Hustler in an email that the speaker’s argument suffered from gaps in evidence and inferential leaps.
“(The university) cherishes diversity because it enables us to foster and encourage conversation among students, faculty and staff with different beliefs, values, interests, concerns, backgrounds, perspectives and lifestyles,” Bandas said. “Such conversations help us understand each other and ourselves.”
Kyle Blaine is the news editor of the Vanderbilt Hustler and a sophomore at Vanderbilt University. He is a member of the Student Free Press Association.
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