Columbia University to Host 6 Graduation Ceremonies Based on Race, Income Level, and Self-Identification

The campus of Columbia University with the Low Memorial Library in the foreground in Manhattan, N.Y., on June 21. Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times

New York City’s Columbia University plans to host six separate graduation ceremonies for students with different cultural backgrounds, races, or self-identities.

The university will host online graduation ceremonies called “Multicultural Graduation Celebrations” in honor of their students’ diversity, the school website states.

The special celebrations, Columbia says, will “provide a more intimate setting for students who self-identify in a variety of ways.”

The celebrations will be recorded and published after their completion.

The ceremonies will include the categories: “Latinx Graduation Celebration,” “Black Graduation Celebration,” as well as Asian, Native, and FLI, which refers to “first generation and/or low income community.”

In addition, a “Lavender Graduation Celebration” will cater to the “LGBTIAQ+ community.”

The university wrote on Twitter that some reports were misrepresenting their “Multicultural Graduation Celebrations,” clarifying that they “exist in addition to, not instead of, University-wide commencement and individual school Class Days.”

“These events are important, intimate and welcoming spaces for students aligned with these groups to come together to celebrate their achievements if they wish. They are organized in tandem with students and student groups.”

Sen. Tom Cotton, (R-Ark.) criticized the concept and placed blame on critical race theory.

“Critical race theory is the belief that people have value based on the color of their skin, and that our race defines everything about us. It’s not just false—it’s dangerous,” Cotton stated.

“The problem is not just one ‘woke’ university embracing discrimination,“ the senator went on, ”Critical race theory is being pushed on our kids at school, it’s peddled by HR departments at corporations, and the Biden administration has embraced it under the guise of ‘racial equity.'”

Cotton also added, “The endpoint of critical race theory: segregation.”

The Chinese American Citizens Alliance, the oldest Chinese civil rights organization in the United States, recently issued a statement denouncing CRT.

“Critical Race Theory is a hateful, divisive, manipulative fraud,” the statement reads. “Hate groups, with allies in politics, the press, and education, pass CRT off as anti-racism and diversity, equity and inclusion, but CRT is exactly the opposite. From its very roots, CRT is racist, repressive, discriminatory, and divisive.”