“Gosh!” Are Racially Exclusive Job Fairs/Mentoring Programs Discriminatory?

Do job fairs and mentoring programs that are limited to minority students discriminate? Inquiring minds at the U.S. Dept. of Education’s Office of Civil Rights want to know, and are thus investigating the law school at Seton Hall University to find out. (Thanks to Howard Bashman)

The job fair — sponsored by a committee called the New Jersey Law Firm Group — is a particular target because Seton Hall told students they were only eligible to attend the fair if they weren’t white.

“Students must be eligible to participate, i.e., they must be students of color,” Seton Hall’s Web site stated at the time. The site also emphasized that the fair was “to ensure that additional opportunities were created for students of color” (emphasis in the original).

One of the mentors “reacted with surprise — ‘gosh!’ — on hearing of the investigation, but declined to comment.”

The response of Seton Hall Law School Dean Patrick Hobbs was equally profound.

The two programs do not discriminate against whites because they are only a small part of the school’s overall career offerings, Hobbs says, and should not be viewed in isolation.

A little bit of discrimination, it appears, is O.K.

Although that at first sounds ridiculous, isn’t that essentially the defense of racial preferences?

Say What? (2)

  1. SCSU Scholars January 16, 2004 at 3:52 pm | | Reply

    Selective job fairs

    John Rosenberg reports that minority-only job fairs at Seton Hall University are being investigted by the Department of Education.

  2. Thoughts on my own career path as an Architect

    Several people have asked that I post a little about my background before joining my current employer in my capacity as an architect. Figured I would oblige their request along with commenting on some additional career insights from my mentor……

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