The University of North Georgia offered some biting parody of equal opportunity in America, albeit unwittingly, with a stock image that graced the cover of its Spring 2015 course catalogue.
In the picture, two white men, who are for some reason wearing full suits, joyfully burst across the finish line of a race as a women in heels lags far behind and a more casually dressed black man struggles to even reach the end. A tagline across the photo enthusiastically reads: "Why follow when you can lead!"
The ill-conceived marketing material swiftly sparked some outrage and a healthy dose of ridicule after it was first featured in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. The university has since pulled the picture from all of its course materials and removed it from its website.
Missing: unnecessary hurdles in the two left lanes "@intelligencer: University catalog accidentally becomes metaphor pic.twitter.com/OnvCcaCOrH"— Jennifer Rock (@jenniferrock) March 20, 2015
"After looking into the issue, we determined that this is an isolated case of poor judgment, and was not intentional," a university spokesperson told the newspaper.
Because the picture is a readily available stock image, University of North Georgia isn't the first organization to use the photo as a ham-fisted attempt to showcase diversity, according to a reverse Google search.
Regardless, sending the message that white guys finish first is not the most inclusive way to start off the school semester.
Get schooled in racial and gender realism at the University of Northern Georgia. #seriously #dumb pic.twitter.com/q04RpbJGaM— vedrotron (@vedrotron) March 21, 2015
Tone Deaf Course Catalog Cover Illustrates Fundamental American Inequality http://t.co/equ8Ldo9hV— Timi Burke (@gotdem) March 20, 2015
@NYMag @krtgrphr Life imitates @TheOnion imitating life.— Carl Clark (@cfclark) March 21, 2015