Mandatory University of Wisconsin Law School seminar tells students ‘there are no exceptional White people’

A mandatory "re-orientation" seminar for first-year students at the University of Wisconsin Law School allegedly instructed them to share racial slurs and claimed "there are no exceptional White people," according to reports.

Students were asked before the Friday presentation to review pamphlets, one of which claimed "colorblindness" can negate the life experiences, norms and cultural values of people of color.

"By saying we are not different, that you don't see the color, you are also saying you don't see your whiteness. This denies the people of colors' experience of racism and your experience of privilege," the pamphlet read.

The two-hour lecture was held by self-described "social justice educator" Joey Oteng, who used it as a "follow-up to the DEI session" that students attended at the beginning of the fall semester, according to Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Lauren L. Devine.

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The University of Wisconsin Law School allegedly hosted a mandatory seminar where students were asked to share racial slurs and instructed on "colorblindness." ((Photo by: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images))

"Re-orientation is intended to do just that – reorient you now that you have your first semester of law school behind you and a new semester ahead," Devine wrote in an email to students. She also told students to review an article on "28 Common Racist Attitudes and Behaviors" and finish a "Race Timeline Worksheet" prior to the seminar.              

Part of "The 28 Common Racist Attitudes and Behaviors" article suggests people of color cannot be racist.

"Let's first define racism with this formula: Racism =racial prejudice + systemic, institutional power. To say people of color can be racist, denies the power imbalance inherent in racism," the handout said.

Another section of the pre-activity materials claimed White people benefit from racial oppression regardless of their actions, noting that "there are no exceptional White people."

Sources who spoke with The Federalist under the condition of anonymity said Oteng used a real-time interactive survey where students were asked to respond to the phrase "I understand institutional and systemic racism" on a scale from "unsure" to "confidently."

The law school told Fox News Digital the session on diversity, equity, and inclusion for first-year law students was held in partial fulfillment of the American Bar Association Standard 303’s requirement that law schools provide education to their students on "bias, cross-cultural competency, and racism."  

"A core goal of the session was to prompt a conversation and help students develop their critical thinking skills with respect to these topics while engaging in dialogue with each other. The University of Wisconsin Law School has a responsibility to train students to debate and challenge ideas, whether contained within legal briefs, judicial opinions, professional training or in the classroom," the school added. 

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Library and Red Gym on the University of Wisconsin campus, Madison. (Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

One attendee said many of the activities felt like a "confessional" for White law students in the audience.

Students in attendance were also allegedly asked to share "words, phrases, stereotypes, slurs, words of bias, etc." that could be associated with minority groups.  

When Oteng asked the audience for a slur to describe White people, someone in attendance allegedly described them as "boring as f—k."

"When it came to slurs about Black people, Native Americans, Asians and Middle Eastern people, it was a very serious moment. When it got to White people and the derogatory terms used for White people, [Oteng] was implying that it was okay to laugh at White slurs because White people don't have any problems," one participant said.

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The seminar was later criticized by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty President and General Counsel Rick Eisenberg.

"The student body is being subject to nonsense that ignores the rule of law and true equality in favor of a racialized way of seeing the world," he said in a statement.