Who is Vijay Chokal-Ingam? Indian-American man who pretended to be a 'man of colour' to get admission in American medical college

What geopolitics will never let the world acknowledge is just how hard it is to be an Indian outside India. From racism to prejudice, one has to weather through all kinds of storms if they move abroad with the dream of making it big. So much so, that at times they'd rather forget their own nationality and identity to pretend to be someone else, one who would be easily accepted by the global society.

Hollywood actress Mindy Kaling's brother did just that. Vijay Chokal-Ingam once revealed that he falsified his medical school application, claiming he was "black" instead of Indian American to be able to benefit from affirmative action.

In 2016, Ingam published a book titled 'Almost Black: The True Story of How I Got Into Medical School by Pretending to Be Black'. In his blog at the time, he wrote: "I got into medical school because I said I was black. The funny thing is I'm not."

He shared that it was during his junior year at college when he realised that he didn't have the grades or test scores to get into medical school, at least not as an Indian American. "Still, 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?" he added.

Thus, Ingam went as far as to shave his head and trim his "long Indian eyelashes" and applied to medical school as a black man. He joined an organisation for black students and applied to schools using his middle name, Jojo. He claimed the plan paid off. Despite his 3.1 college grade-point average while pursuing a BA in Economics at the University of Chicago and a good but not great score of 31 on the Medical College Admission Test, he allegedly interviewed at top med schools like Harvard and Columbia. He applied to more than 20 schools and was rejected by all except being waitlisted at the University of Pennsylvania and Mt. Sinai. He ultimately enrolled in St Louis University Medical School from where he dropped out two years later.

He even posted documents on his website to bolster his claims, including an enthusiastic letter from a dean at the Emory University School of Medicine congratulating him on his “excellent scores” on the MCAT.

However, he also claimed to have experienced some drawbacks. “Cops harassed me. Store clerks accused me of shoplifting. Women were either scared of me or couldn’t keep their hands off me,” he wrote. “What started as a devious ploy to gain admission to medical school turned into a twisted social experiment.”

What is affirmative action?

Ingam is the elder brother of popular Indian-American actress, screenwriter and producer Mindy Kaling, known for her role as Kelly in 'The Office'. The two were born to Hindu Tamil parents Avudaiappan Chokalingam and Swati Roysircar who had migrated from Nigeria to the US.

As per Ingam, his story showed how affirmative action "destroys the dreams of millions of Indian-American, Asian American and other applicants for employment and higher education."

Affirmative action in the US refers to an effort to improve employment or education opportunities for members of minority groups and for women. It began as a government initiative to remedy the effects of long-standing discrimination against minorities and was initiated by the administration of President Lyndon Johnson (1963–69) in order to improve opportunities for African Americans. However, in a June 2023 ruling the Supreme Court ruled an end to all race-based affirmative action programs in college and university admissions in the US.

“After the decision, colleges and universities displayed a range of reactions — from reluctant acceptance to outright defiance,” Ingam said. “More than 100 colleges and universities, including the entire Ivy League, had filed amicus briefs backing Harvard and the University of North Carolina’s admission practices, which the court now deemed discriminatory.”

“These schools have collected tens of billions in taxpayer dollars and sent millions of rejection letters to applicants whose only fault may have been their race,” he added.

“What do you call it when you segregate applicants based on race?’’ Vijay previously said, according to the New York Post. “It’s a form of legalised racism. It’s the ultimate form of discrimination to assume that one is disadvantaged just because he’s black, Hispanic or Native American."

Now, he works as a professional resume writer, interview coach and graduate school application consultant. He is the founder of the Los Angeles-based career consulting companies Interview SOS and LA Resume Service.