At the two universities I currently know about, one accepts a racial statement at the time of application, the other assess applicants. In either case, false statement or false representation would be fraud and, eventually, a criminal offense – which would be a bad thing to have on your academic record.
One of those universities used to have a much looser system, which was open to abuse, back when far fewer applicants self-identified on scholarship/entrance applications.
How could you have a case of fraud or a false statement? “I identify as Black”. How do you prove that wrong? I suppose if he filed at other colleges recently picking other races, maybe.
What abuse could occur?
I didn’t make it clear that I’m actually in Aus, (because the easy part of the answer to the OP didn’t require that).
“Could eventually be fraud”. For a fraud conviction, you’d have to prove that the statement was fraudulently made. In the context of a person who continued to make false affirmative-action claims, which have been disputed. So there would be two parts: first demonstrating that the claim was false, then demonstrating that the false claim was fraudulent.
In the only actually fraudulent claim I’ve heard about, both would have been fairly easy, but that was back in the day. Now, just having to make a signed statement would discourage such an easily disprovable claim.
The part that’s relevant to Aus is that “eligible for affirmative action” is commonly a defined condition. If it’s medical or social, you need signed statements from third parties describing the effect of medical or social handicap. If it’s race, you need to either claim patrimony, or claim community membership. “Black” isn’t an automatic pass. Patrimony and community membership are checkable claims that might come back to bite you.
Well, looks like there is now a case of it:
You don’t need to have a surname that originated in Spain (mainland or colonies) to be Hispanic. Alberto Fujimori, Selma Hayek and Shakira Mebarak are all Hispanic.
Not really. That crook urged parents to put “black” etc instead of “white”.:rolleyes: If indeed they did, there is nothing anyone could do. What DNA test would you administer?
interesting fact that I heard or read some years back that there are some HBCU’s that are majority White, I think in Tennessee
excuse me, didn’t you hear about white woman head of NAACP in Washington state who claimed to be Black until she was outed and forced to resign
**Not by any law. **She resigned due to the public outcry. In fact the NAACP stood behind her. So, if someone self- identified as black, say, but both parents said they were white, a college would be on dubious grounds for expelling.
*The revelations about Dolezal’s ancestry and her other claims provoked a range of reactions. Dolezal’s critics argued that she committed cultural appropriation[100] and fraud.[100][101] On the other hand, others asserted that Dolezal’s asserted identity should be respected.[102][103][104][105] Angela Schwendiman, a colleague of Dolezal’s at Eastern Washington University, expressed her belief that Dolezal perceived herself as black internally, and that “she was only trying to match how she felt on the inside with her outside.”[106] Similarly Cedric Bradley, a colleague of hers at Spokane’s NAACP, suggested it mattered little to him whether Dolezal was actually black or not. What did matter to him was her proven track record in social justice work. “It’s not about black and white,” Bradley stated, “it’s about what we can do for the community.”[107]
Psychologist Halford Fairchild said “Rachel Dolezal is black because she identifies as black. Her identity was authentic, as far as I could tell.”[108] Sociologist Ann Morning also defended Dolezal, saying: “We’re getting more and more used to the idea that people’s racial affiliation and identity and sense of belonging can change, or can vary, with different circumstances.”[109] *
Re Velocity’s link-A slightly less biased cite would be nice:
That sounds a lot like the complaint I heard in college… in 1973. Obviously it’s work so well that the USA elects only socialists today.
Again - if it is used to obtain a financial benefit, it’s fraud. Even if it would be difficult to prove criminal fraud, presumably a civil suit to recover the money would be a lot easier to win - “preponderance of evidence”. Can the perp, like Dolezal did, show a long history of identifying as such or was it a bran new claim aimed solely at the benefit?
Also, if the college decided to expel someone for academic fraud, it could take a few years to follow through with a lawsuit - years during which the student probably could not get admission to any other college with a record for cheating, etc. Then if they won, they would still have a legal bill… and presumably the risk is also that being expelled half-way through the year does not mean any tuition refund - and any student loans are due once you’re out of college…