"I was actually stunned when I opened the update and saw that I was admitted," Mr Ahmed told Mic.

"I didn't think I would get admitted to Stanford at all, but it's quite refreshing to see that they view my unapologetic activism as an asset rather than a liability.

"The insistence on an explanation is inherently dehumanising. Black lives have been explicitly and implicitly told they don't matter for centuries, and as a society - it is our responsibility to scream that black lives matter because it is not to say that all lives do not matter, but it is to say that black lives have been attacked for so long, and that we must empower through language, perspective, and action."

However, some social media users were unimpressed, with Ahmed being accused by some of "virtue signalling" and an "attempt to look progressive".