NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Two months ago, Talk of the Sound reported that on April 14, New Rochelle High School Math Chair Xiomara Gonzalez sent an email to students offering a “minority only” summer program at Mercy College.
New Rochelle Public Schools Offer “Minority-Only” Math Program: WHITES NEED NOT APPLY!
The Mathematical Modeling at Mercy College Young Scholars program was being offered under the requirement that applicants “must be a minority student”.
Such a program would clearly be illegal. After Mercy College officials were asked about the illegal, discriminatory policy, they took action:
After Mercy College “corrected” their inaccurate statement about student eligibility regarding a scholarship-based summer math program that illegally discriminated against White students, we reached out to Interim Superintendent of Schools Dr. Alex Marrero. He has never responded to our questions.
Monday will be the two-month anniversary of the April 14 email from Xiomara Gonzalez which remains uncorrected. Dr. Marrero has never responded, and no corrective action has been taken by New Rochelle High School.
As a result, even though Mercy College corrected their policy 8 weeks ago, students at New Rochelle High School have never been notified. Those students who do not meet the vague and undefined criteria of “minority only” have effectively been denied the opportunity to apply for the Mercy College program.
There are serious legal and constitutional issues here but also general fairness issues and questions of accountability at the high school and central office.
The Mercy College program is aimed at low-income students. New Rochelle High School appears to be advancing the idea that only “minority” students are low-income, a fundamentally racist conception.
It is high past time, for the City School District of New Rochelle or New Rochelle Board of Education to see to it that corrective action is taken and that nothing like this happens again.
This is blatant discrimination! Where is the outrage? Where is the ACLU ???