Peter Wood, editor of the book Diversity:  The Invention of a Concept, has written on the affirmative action bake sale controversy at Wesleyan.

National Review has token notice of the controversy surrounding racial preferences at Wesleyan University.  Initially, the school's admissions department denied that there was any kind of policy that discriminated against prospective students based on race.  Now, the faculty has let the cat out of the bag by writing in to the school paper to defend racial preferences.  

Mytheos Holt at Phi Beta Cons comments --

Note: The Wesleyan Conservatives, of which Aileen is president, created campus controversy when they hosted an affirmative action bake sale intended to satirize affirmative action policies.

"...in response to the Affirmative Action Bake Sale sponsored by the Wesleyan Cardinal Conservatives, a group of concerned students and faculty will be hosting a forum...This forum will provide an open space for anyone interested to listen and voice their thoughts, opinions, feelings, questions, concerns, etc. about the bake sale.  In so doing, we hope to address not only what affirmative action policies are and how they pertain to Wesleyan, but also, our campus climate and deeper societal issues that acted as catalysts for this event. Other points of interest are equally open for discussion..."

Frankly, I felt attacked.

A selection of remarks: "this disrupted my life," "you don't care about the ways you hurt people," "the bake sale was self-centered and self-absorbed," "you have a really ignorant understanding of how equality works," "your opinions are based on misinformation," "you divided the university, itemized us and priced us," "you spit on a university that has brought together so many different people."

A week ago, on October 26, Wesleyan’s Cardinal Conservatives held an affirmative action bake sale. A total assault on the group and its members has ensued.

Claire Bond Potter, Wesleyan history and American Studies professor, wrote a lengthy email to group members on October 28: "If you really want to talk about admissions policy, you should read about it...not organize public stunts that embarrass fellow students without making yourself available for an intelligent conversation about the facts."

Potter, of course, didn't attend the satirical bake sale. Nor did she attend a forum sponsored by the Cardinal Conservatives to discuss the event. Instead, she heard about the event through a colleague -- and was immediately compelled to respond.

Yesterday, as Wesleyan students hurried to class they encountered what looked like a normal bake sale. Upon closer inspection it was anything but ordinary, the Cardinal Conservatives were holding their first event: an affirmative action bake sale.

The bake sale satirized affirmative action policies by charging students different prices for the baked goods based on their race. For instance: white students were charged $2.00 per item; Asian Americans, $1.50; Latinos, $1.00; African Americans, 75 cents; and Native Americans, nothing. Women received an even greater discount: items were 25 cents cheaper than listed price to compensate for “institutionalized discrimination that transcends nearly all cultures.”

Many students responded emotionally to the demonstration, with comments like “Are you serious?” or “You’ve got to be kidding!” Yes, in part the bake sale was a satire regarding the unfair practice of affirmative action that gives preferential treatment to individuals based solely on race or gender.

Myles Potters, a student at Wesleyan, expressed that although he disagreed with the Cardinal Conservative’s stance and views on affirmative action he felt that "it’s great that they are starting a dialogue which forces us to really consider the issue instead of just falling back onto the stereotypical (for Wesleyan) liberal party line."