Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic mayoral nominee for New York City, checked both 'South Asian' and 'African American' on his 2009 Columbia University application. He aimed to represent his full heritage as an Indian-Ugandan immigrant. Although he does not identify as Black, he stated that he wanted his application to showcase his entire identity. The personal information was exposed after a hacker breached Columbia's records, allegedly seeking to validate the university's ongoing use of affirmative action following a Supreme Court ruling against it. This incident has sparked mixed reactions from critics and supporters alike.
"Most college applications don't have a box for Indian-Ugandans, so I checked multiple boxes trying to capture the fullness of my background," said Mamdani in an interview.
"Even though these boxes are constraining, I wanted my college application to reflect who I was," said Mamdani.
The hacker intended to verify whether the university continued to use affirmative action in its admissions process after the Supreme Court ruled against the practice in 2023.
New York City mayoral candidates Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo have called out the Democratic nominee for claiming an identity for personal gain.
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