Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn referred to minorities as “dark ones” on Wednesday, prompting criticism from several state lawmakers, MLive reported.
Debating whether Michigan should adopt the Common Core State Standards at the state legislature, Arnn recalled receiving a Department of Education letter that voiced concerns about racial diversity at Hillsdale College.
“They said we violated the standards for diversity because we didn’t have enough dark ones, I guess is what they meant,” Arnn said in his opening remarks.
After receiving criticism for the “offensive” language from several state Democrats, Arnn doubled down.
“The State of Michigan sent a group of people down to my campus, with clipboards … to look at the colors of people’s faces and write down what they saw,” Arnn later said, according to M Live. “We don’t keep records of that information. What were they looking for besides dark ones?”
Listen to his opening remarks below, around the 1:40 mark: