Muslim teen writes BLM hashtag 100 times, gets into Stanford

Ziad Ahmed, a New Jersey high school senior and Muslim activist, has allegedly been admitted to Stanford University after giving a highly unorthodox answer.

When asked on his application “What Matters to you and Why?,” he claims to have answered, “#BlackLivesMatter” and simply repeated the hashtag 100 times.

[RELATED: ‘Blue lives don’t matter,’ pro-BLM UC Irvine protesters say]

Ahmed’s acceptance letter, which apparently uses language identical to that reported by other accepted Stanford applicants, states that “everyone who received your application was inspired by your passion, determination, accomplishments, and heart. You are, quite simply, a fantastic match with Stanford.”

Ahmed expressed surprise at his acceptance into Stanford, telling The Independent that he “didn't think I would get admitted to Stanford at all, but it's quite refreshing to see that they view my unapologetic activism as an asset rather than a liability.”

Ahmed has been recognized for his activism, attending the White House Iftar dinner (a religious observance of Ramadan) and interning for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. In 2015, he even gave a TedxTalk in Panama about what it was like to be a Muslim teenager in America.

Ahmed currently fights racial stereotyping and the founder of the teen organization Redefy, according to his personal website.

[RELATED: Students say black cartoonist’s criticism of BLM is racist]

“To me, to be Muslim is to be a BLM ally, and I honestly can't imagine it being any other way for me,” Ahmed told The Independent. “Furthermore, it's critical to realise that one-fourth to one-third of the Muslim community in America are black... and to separate justice for Muslims from justices for the black community is to erase the realities of the plurality of our community."

Ahmed also tweeted that he has been accepted to Yale and Princeton University, as well, though all of the tweets were posted on April Fool’s Day, as Ahmed observed in a cryptic follow-up tweet stating, “I completely forgot it was #AprilFoolsDay until this moment, & now I don’t know what is true or not (me everday these days tho tbh).”

E.J. Miranda, Stanford’s senior director of media relations, told Campus Reform that the university does not discuss student applications, and so cannot confirm either that Ahmed submitted the application as described or that his application was accepted.

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