College Recruiter Has Students Line Up by Skin Color, Hair Texture

He's since been fired
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 2, 2020 5:38 PM CST
College Recruiter Has Students Line Up by Skin Color, Hair Texture
Stock photo.   (Getty Images / surpasspro)

A college recruiter was fired after high school students in Oklahoma City said he had them line up by the color of their skin and then by their hair texture, the AP reports. Harding Charter Preparatory High School student Korey Todd told KFOR-TV that during the Feb. 24 assembly, the recruiter from Oklahoma Christian University "barely talked about the school itself." “He was like, 'All right, let's play a little game,'" Todd said. “Then he said, 'OK, everyone, now line up from darkest to lightest skin complexion.'" The 11th graders were then told to shuffle again. Student Rio Brown said, “He told us to line up nappiest hair in the back and straightest hair in the front." Todd said the recruiter didn't "rationalize" the purpose of the activity.

The university told the TV station that the admissions counselor is no longer an Oklahoma Christian employee, adding that admissions leadership didn't approve the "inappropriate activity in advance." The university said its admissions staff will visit the school Monday to apologize. Harding's principal, Steven Stefanick, said in a statement to KFOR that the recruiter "led a group activity with our students that involved inappropriate and hurtful statements." He said Harding doesn't condone any behavior that "undermines our community's values."

(More Oklahoma stories.)

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