Ziad Ahmed didn’t expect to get into Stanford. The high school senior from New Jersey thought his “unapologetic activism” might turn off the prestigious West Coast university.
The 18-year-old has a long track record of liberal activism. He founded the teen organization Redefy, which works to defy stereotypes, and co-founded a youth-centered consulting firm called JÃœV Consulting. Last year he interned for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign after working with Martin O’Malley’s presidential campaign.
But Ahmed received an acceptance letter, which read in part, “Everyone who received your application was inspired by your passion, determination, accomplishments, and heart.”
It must have been clear to the admissions team exactly what Ahmed’s passion was. When asked on his application, “What matters to you, and why?” Ahmed simply wrote “#BlackLivesMatter” 100 times.
Scott Greer, author of the book “No Campus For White Men: The Transformation of Higher Education Into Hateful Indoctrination,” noted the absurdity of Ahmed’s application.
“The fact someone could write such an essay, only blaring a left-wing talking point, and get into one of America’s most prestigious universities reveals the absurdity of the modern admissions process,” he told WND. “A student could not get into Stanford just writing ‘Make America Great Again’ for an entire essay.”
Greer, an editor and columnist at the Daily Caller, added: “Stanford is now announcing that it fully supports Black Lives Matter, while at the same time proving the essay portion of the application process is a complete joke. Its only purpose is to prove an applicant’s left-wing bona fides, which Mr. Ahmed did an exceptional job of proving.”
In Ahmed’s acceptance letter, the admissions team wrote: “You are, quite simply, a fantastic match with Stanford. You will bring something original and extraordinary to our campus – a place where you can learn, grown, and thrive.”
The Bangladeshi-American Muslim told Mic.com he was “stunned” when he saw he had been admitted a week ago Friday.
“I didn’t think I would get into Stanford at all, but it’s quite refreshing to see that they view my unapologetic activism as an asset rather than a liability,” Ahmed said.
What do YOU think? Sound off in today’s WND Poll on Stanford accepting ‘Black Lives Matter’ essay.
He purposefully didn’t explain the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag in his application.
“The insistence on an explanation is inherently dehumanizing,” Ahmed told Mic.com. “Black lives have been explicitly and implicitly told they don’t matter for centuries, and as a society – it is our responsibility to scream that black lives matter because it is not to say that all lives do not matter, but it is to say that black lives have been attacked for so long, and that we must empower through language, perspective, and action.”
In 2015 he attended the White House Iftar dinner, where President Obama honored him. That same year he gave a TED Talk in Panama City, Panama, about what it’s like to be a Muslim teenager in the U.S.
Ahmed sees his religion and his BLM activism as intertwined.
“To me, to be Muslim is to be a BLM ally, and I honestly can’t imagine it being any other way for me,” he said. “Furthermore, it’s critical to realize that one-fourth to one-third of the Muslim community in America are black … and to separate justice for Muslims from justices for the black community is to erase the realities of the plurality of our community.”
Greer thinks Ahmed’s record makes him the ideal college student for this decade.
“Ahmed is the perfect student for the present state of higher education,” Greer said. “It is not about developing young minds for the real world – it is all about indoctrinating young Americans to accept progressive dogma.”
Ahmed told Mic.com he has also been accepted to Yale and Princeton and has until May 1 to decide which university to attend. He said he is undecided about his major, but he is considering international relations, cognitive science, economics or comparative studies in race and ethnicity.