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Judge orders USP to enroll law student excluded from racial quotas

 had his pre-registration canceled after evaluation by the panel via photo and video call.

From the Editor

 

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

 

Updated at 10:09

 

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USP must guarantee the enrollment of young people who lost their place at the Faculty of Law because they were not considered mixed race. The injunction was granted by Judge  de Campos, from the 14th court of the Public Treasury of São Paulo/SP, upon concluding that verification carried out through a photo and a video call "offends equality".

 

an entrance exam exclusively for public school students. The candidate competed in the modality of reserving places for public education graduates and self-declared PPIs (black, mixed race and indigenous). 

 

The student declared himself mixed race, but the hetero-identification committee disagreed with the statement after evaluating the photograph and holding a one-minute video call with the candidate.

 

After the episode, the student filed a lawsuit against the University, alleging that the investigation procedure carried out by USP was illegal and unconstitutional. 

 

Read more

Law student excluded from racial quotas by commission sues USP

 

 

 

 lost his position after USP's hetero-identification committee did not consider him mixed race. (Image: Reproduction/Social Networks)

When analyzing the case, the judge accepted the student's defense request and stated that the verification carried out through a photo and a video call "offends equality".

 

"This distinction may even have harmed the author. Firstly, because images generated by electronic equipment are not necessarily faithful to reality. And secondly, because it is worth considering that the decision of the  Inclusion and Belonging Council [---] was taken by majority of votes of those present. It would then remain to be seen whether, if the session were in person, the same result would have been produced."

 

The judge reinforced the difficulty in assessing racial belonging from a distance, as each of the photographs shows the young man in different ways.

 

"It seems that, without wanting to simply and simply replace the administrative judging panels, we cannot even forget that the author is simply the son of a person of black race, and possibly images that sometimes favor him, sometimes not, in the conclusion of belonging to the black race, whether black or brown, does not seem to be a reasonable criterion in a context like this, let alone for measuring from a distance." 

 

Finally, the judge granted the injunction, arguing that the teenager should have guaranteed access at risk of "irreversible damage".

 

"The danger of delay is inherent to the very exclusion from the university course for which one had already pre-registered, given the sequence it will take, which could imply irreversible damage."

 

Process :  1013167-68.2024.8.26.0053