UNM bake sale charged prices based on race

ALBUQUERQUE — A bake sale at The University of New Mexico set up by a nonprofit group to charge students based on race and ethnicity ended after outraged opponents disrupted it.

The group, Turning Point USA, set up what it called an “Affirmative Action Bake Sale” on campus Thursday with a sign advertising higher prices for Asians and Caucasians and cheaper prices for African-Americans and Hispanics.

William Witt, a Turning Point regional director, said the bake sale was aimed at generating a conversation about affirmative action programs. “Certain groups get different opportunities than other groups, and we believe it doesn’t give equal opportunity,” he said.

But protesters outnumbered the people who set up the bake sale, and the members of Turning Point ended up leaving.

“We had tons of people who wanted to have great conversations. But once people start yelling, destroying our stuff and breaking everything on the table, it makes it tough to have good discussions,” Witt said.

Some students encouraged a dialogue and asked angry students to calm down.

Bake sale opponent and student Ryan Sindon said the group’s departure came after “we exercised our free speech to the point where they felt they needed to leave.”

The university said the group is not recognized as an official student group but has applied for recognition. Turning Point bills itself as a student movement for free markets and limited government.