Illinois prep school that costs $18k a year faces backlash for assignment asking students to describe how they’ve benefited from white privilege ‘despite knowing its harm’
- Students at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, just outside Chicago, were asked the questions as part of an ethics class
- They were asked to describe how they have benefited from white privilege and specify ways they have wielded it
- Another question asked the students to describe what made them uncomfortable what they’d learned about their own white privilege
- A school spokesperson said the questions, which it admitted were ‘inappropriate and left some students feeling defense’, were no longer being used
- The spokesperson said: ‘We have never – and will never -ask students to apologize for their race’
- Loyola Academy has an annual tuition of nearly $18,000 per year
- The school, which counts comedian Bill Murray and actor Chris O’Donnell as alumni, is predominately made up of white students
An Illinois prep school is facing criticism over an assignment that asked students to describe how they have benefited from white privilege and how they use it ‘despite knowing the harm it does’.
Students at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, just outside Chicago, were asked the questions as part of an ethics class.
The assignment, a copy of which was obtained by Fox News, included the question: ‘How do you benefit from white privilege and how have you held onto that benefit (despite knowing the harm it does)?’
Another question asked students to specify ways they have wield their privilege whether they intended to or not.
Students at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, just outside Chicago, were asked the questions as part of an ethics class
‘Dig deep. No sugar coating and no focusing on the good you have done with your privilege. Remember this isn’t about being self-congratulatory, it’s about pulling out white supremacy,’ a note on that specific question read.
A third question asked the students at the Jesuit college preparatory school to describe what had made them uncomfortable about anything they’d learned about their own white privilege.
In response to the assignment, a spokesperson for Loyola Academy said the questions, which it admitted were ‘inappropriate and left some students feeling defense’, were no longer being used.
‘We have never – and will never -ask students to apologize for their race,’ the spokesperson said.
‘As with any important ethical issues, we hope to challenge our students to be critical thinkers who work to address complex problems in light of our Catholic faith.
‘A structured study of racism has been part of our ethics curriculum for over 20 years, and it will continue to be an essential component of a Rambler’s education.’
The assignment, a copy of which was obtained by Fox News , included the question: ‘How do you benefit from white privilege and how have you held onto that benefit (despite knowing the harm it does)?’
White students at Loyola Academy account for 80 percent of the population, while black and Hispanic students account for 5 percent each
Loyola Academy has an annual tuition of nearly $18,000 per year.
The school, which counts comedian Bill Murray and actor Chris O’Donnell as alumni, is predominately made up of white students.
White students account for 80 percent of the population, while black and Hispanic students account for 5 percent each.
Hannah Brennan, a student made to do the assignment, told Fox News that she thought the task was ‘manipulative’ and many felt uncomfortable.
‘There are a lot of students who feel super uncomfortable doing this because they don’t agree with white privilege and the ideology behind it,’ she said.
‘It reminds me of China with the reeducation camps. It feels like they’re very much pushing their opinions as facts and teaching opinions as facts. And it’s very manipulative.’
Other students described classes at the school as being ‘left-leaning’ and that it was ‘shamed upon to be a conservative’.
Brennan claimed she and other students were recently banned from starting a chapter of the conservative Turning Point USA organization because it was allegedly deemed to be “anti-Semitic and racist’.