The UC Berkeley Republicans plan to host a provocative "Increase Diversity Bake Sale" this Thursday, one that many have decried as racist. Why? Well, because the bake sale's organizers plan to charge different students different amounts for the cupcakes. The price structure is as follows:

  • White/Caucasian students, $2 for each baked good
  • Asians/Asian-Americans, $1.50
  • Latinos/Hispanics, $1
  • Blacks/African-Americans, 75 cents
  • Native Americans, 25 cents
  • Women get 25 cents off the price

According to the group putting on the sale, the price structuring is to prove a point about SB 185 and how race plays a part in college admission.

Gov. Jerry Brown has SB 185 on his desk which would authorize California public universities to consider race, gender, ethnicity, and national/geographic origin in the admissions process. The Berkeley College Republicans firmly believe measuring any admit's merit based on race is intrinsically racist. Our bake sale will be at the same time and location of a phone bank which will be making calls to urge Gov. Brown to sign the bill. The purpose of the event is to offer another view to this policy of considering race in university admissions. The pricing structure of the baked goods is meant to be satirical, while urging students to think more critically about the implications of this policy.

Republicans, unabashed champions of fairness, yes?

In response to the bake sale, which garnered a lot of heat last week from both students and faculty, the ASUC Senate passed a bill at an emergency meeting last night to promote “respectful ASUC student organization conduct." The Daily Californian reports that "campus Republicans did not intend to offend any group and were simply using the bake sale as a political protest against SB 185, affirmative action-like legislation currently awaiting Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature."

The Daily Cal also posted a video feature students' responses to the controversial bake sale.


We should point out, as SF Weekly does, that the Berkeley College Republicans held the exact same racially-charged bake sale eight years ago.