In the wee hours of this morning, a curious group popped up in the Wellesley network on Facebook. “Caucasian Women in Advanced Studies”, an “un-official group” at Wellesey was created to “support the struggles of white women as they make their way through academia, professional life and interpersonal relationships.”

There is a valid conversation to be had about the need for safe spaces for white women on campus to talk about their identities, recognition of privilege, learn to become allies, etc (the Ally Group created as part of College Government Diversity Committee hopes to fill this void). However, there is no need for a group founded on the idea that white women have been academically/professional hindered by the creation of minority scholarships (which was one of the reasons for this group according to the founder). That assertion is not true and there are a myriad of studies that illustrate that white women have in fact, historically been the largest beneficiaries of Affirmative Action programs and that white students are more likely to be the recipients of college scholarships.

The Facebook page was taken down in less than an hour after it was posted. I can only hope that the student who created the group realized why such an organization would be deemed offensive and unnecessary. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I think this incident illustrates why Wellesley is in need of a revised, streamlined and mandatory Multicultural Requirement class that explores history, race, power and privilege.

-DJS