Mindy Kaling's brother Vijay admitted on his website that he pretended to be an African-American to get accepted in medical school.
- Apr 7, 2015
AceShowbiz - Mindy Kaling's broter Vijay Chokal-Ingam made a controversial confession on his website almostblack.com. He claimed that he pretended to be a black man to get into Saint Louis University School of Medicine in the late 1990s. "I got into medical school because I said I was black. The funny thing is I'm not," so he admitted on the website.
Fully committing to the deceitful act, Vijay shaved her head, trimmed his long Indian eyelashes and joined an Organization of Black Students. Even greater, he changed her name into "Jojo." He wrote on the website, "My change in appearance was so startling that my own fraternity brothers didn't recognize me at first."
The son of Indian immigrant said that he didn't have favorable grades to get into med school. That's why Vijay did so as he believed that it would increase his opportunity of being accepted. "I was determined to become a doctor and I knew that admission standards for certain minorities under affirmative action were, let's say... less stringent?" so he wrote.
Besides, he claimed that he used his tactic to attack affirmative action laws. "When you are faced with racism, you have the choice to accept it or to defy those who discriminate against you," Vijay told The Huffington Post. "At the age of 22, I made the decision [to] defy those who would discriminate against me, lie and oppose affirmative action racism."
Vijay admitted that his new appearance made him a tough competitor for applicants who wanted to get into prestigious medical schools the like Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Emory University School of Medicine and Columbia University.
He was finally accepted in Saint Louis University's School of Medicine in 1999. Two years later, however, he dropped out.
