Amid the row over the ethnicity of the students of the University of Texas, Austin, Indian-origin tech founder and an alumnus of the university, Vedant Nair, shared his experience of growing up in Texas and his struggle as a 'brown kid' to stay a step ahead because of the steep competition. The controversy started after Bo French, a Republican, shared the photo of south Asian students cheering at a football game and asked why so many non-Whites are admitted to the university. Two students, both of Indian origin, spoke out after they found their cheering faces all over the Internet but for racist attacks. It turned out that both of them are US citizens.
Get breaking news anytime, anywhere. Download the TOI app now!
Nair said Texas law requires 90% of UT's freshman class to be Texas residents. 75% of those in-state seats go to automatic admission on class rank -- and so the question of outsiders getting admission to UT does not even arise.
Nair, the co-founder of Miru Robotics, shared how his race started in kindergarten. "Every summer, before the school year started, I had to finish the upcoming year's math textbook."
"I sweated over getting As, even in elementary school. One funny memory is walking to my parents' room, crying, to report my first-ever 89 on a report card."
