Recruiter told Oklahoma students to line up by skin colour

OKLAHOMA CITY – A college recruiter was fired after high school students in Oklahoma City said he had them line up by the colour of their skin and then by their hair texture.

Harding Charter Preparatory High School student Korey Todd told KFOR-TV that during the Feb. 24 assembly, the recruiter from Oklahoma Christian University “barely talked about the school itself.”

“He was like, ‘All right, let’s play a little game,’” Todd said. “Then he said, ‘Okay everyone, now line up from darkest to lightest skin complexion.’”

The 11th graders were then told to shuffle again.

Student Rio Brown said, “He told us to line up nappiest hair in the back and straightest hair in the front.”

Todd said the recruiter didn’t “rationalize” the purpose of the activity.

The university told the TV station that the admissions counsellor is no longer an Oklahoma Christian employee, adding that admissions leadership didn’t approve the “inappropriate activity in advance.” The university said its admissions staff will visit the school Monday to apologize.

Harding’s principal, Steven Stefanick, said in a statement to KFOR that the recruiter “led a group activity with our students that involved inappropriate and hurtful statements.” He said Harding doesn’t condone any behaviour that “undermines our community’s values.”