Students at a university in the United Kingdom can win a gold star if they pass a white privilege test in a four-hour course incorporating lessons on white privilege, pronoun use, and microaggressions.
The course, titled “Expect Respect,” outlines “the behavior we expect of you while you’re with us.”
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Included in the course is a quiz on white privilege, according to the Telegraph, in which students are tasked with finding 13 societal benefits that white people are said to enjoy.
“I can swear, or dress in second-hand clothes, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty or the illiteracy of my race,” one of the 13 examples on the list reads.
Students are awarded a gold star if they can successfully select all 13. Those who can’t must retake the quiz, according to course guidelines.
“We expect all students, regardless of program, level, or site of study, to complete the module,” an email to instructors stated.
The quiz serves as an introduction to the course, and university faculty have reportedly been encouraged to contemplate adding trigger warnings to exam papers and institute pronoun checks.
Not all staff at the university have welcomed the program.
“I’ve said I’m not going to do it [add trigger warnings or decolonize reading lists], and I’m not going to tell students to do this module either,” said Ellie Lee, a professor of family and parenting research.
“Encouraging people in the academy to narrow their field of reading and narrow students’ reading seems to me to be simply philistine and irresponsible,” she continued. “Students are being instructed through this module that there is a correct way of thinking.”
The module was first created in response to a series of requests for greater awareness toward inclusivity efforts, the school said.
“The module was developed with our students and introduces a range of issues from racism and bias to sexual harassment and consent, supporting everyone to ensure all members of our community are treated with kindness and respect,” the university told Mail+.
Still, the school made clear the course is recommended and not mandatory.
LOUDOUN COUNTY RESIDENTS GATHER OUTSIDE SCHOOL BOARD MEETING TO PROTEST TRANSGENDER POLICY
“While we would like as many students as possible to take the module, nobody would face action for not doing so,” the university said.
