I would like to register my objection to being required to indicate my ethnicity on the student profile.
The reason for my objection is that institutions of higher learning should not perpetuate clearly antiquated notions of race. Racial categories are artificial constructs without any real scientific basis.
These categories fly in the face of human complexity, require us to disavow our (uniformly) multi-“racial” backgrounds, and are divisive by nature.
Institutions of higher learning have no business perpetuating the notion of race and I do not appreciate being forced to participate in this farcical and destructive exercise.
I am convinced that our children and grandchildren will be embarrassed to know just how long we, who are supposed to be well educated, continued to see the world in terms of black and white.
I know that SMU relies upon funding sources that require students to categorize themselves by race, but believe that it is incumbent upon our school (and others) not only to object, but to refuse to comply with this destructive stupidity – even to our short-term detriment.
Q) How do you become a great school?
A) You lead the fight against ignorance.
I hope the administration of SMU will respond to this letter with an article detailing how SMU will become a leader in this matter.
If school administrators will not lead, I think the student body has a right to a comprehensive defense of racial classification – both in terms of its scientific basis and how racial classification benefits schools and society.
Hoping for the best,
David Dunaway
Perkins School of Theology
