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Scholarship stirs debate
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by Ben Perlman
Monday, December 4, 2006
College Republicans at Boston University sparked nationwide debate by creating a scholarship exclusively for white students last month.
The group created the scholarship as a demonstration against minority scholarships, BU College Republicans President Joe Mroszczyk said, because he and his fellow group members believe such scholarships are discriminatory.
The BU College Republicans set up the $250 scholarship to drive home their point that race should not be a contributing factor for college scholarship considerations, Mroszczyk said.
"We're not advocating for a white scholarship," Mroszczyk said. "We're trying to say that no scholarship should have a racial component."
Mroszczyk said he is not opposed to need-based scholarships, but race should never be a factor.
While Mroszczyk is not alone in his opinion, University of Wisconsin journalism professor James Danky said many Americans are missing the point of minority scholarships.
"People like the College Republicans are fond of the term 'equal playing field,' but they've never been on an unequal playing field," Danky said. "The No. 1 factor of kids going to college is whether their parents went to college. That begins to indicate who goes to college in the first place."
Danky pointed out that hard work is oftentimes not enough to get accepted to college.
"Suggesting that in order to arrive at the American educational experience all you have to do is work hard is unrealistic," Danky said.
Danky's viewpoint mirrors that of a number of groups who disagree with the premise of the "whites only" scholarship, such as the national group College Democrats.
The BU College Republicans did not expect national attention, Mroszczyk said, but he added the response has mainly been positive.
However, Eli Lewien, chair of the College Democrats of Madison, said the "whites only" scholarship moves the discourse about racial scholarship considerations in the wrong direction.
"[The BU College Republicans] are operating on flawed reasoning, and they did it in bad taste," Lewien said. "Universities use scholarships to create diversity on campus and create a positive atmosphere. [The 'whites only'] scholarship doesn't do that."
According to BU junior Jennie Smith, the reaction on campus to the College Republicans' scholarship was tame compared to the national reaction.
"I think the reaction on campus wasn't as big as it was nationally," she said. "I'm surprised there hasn't been a big reaction here because people at BU tend to be more Democratic."
The scholarship highlights a major political divide between conservatives and liberals who feel differently on a number of racial issues including affirmative action.
This is not the first time that the practices of universities have been at the center of affirmative action controversy.
The University of Michigan's admissions practices were called into question in the U.S. Supreme Court. In January 2003, the Supreme Court ruled that race could be considered in admissions decisions, according to a University of Michigan Media Relations and Public Affairs release.
The Supreme Court ruled that race could be considered in order to achieve diversity, but that the point system in use by the University of Michigan was "too narrowly tailored" to achieve that end and was therefore unacceptable.
— Joanna Pliner contributed to this report.
Anonymous (December 4, 2006 @ 7:57am):
"People like the College Republicans are fond of the term 'equal playing field,' but they've never been on an unequal playing field," Danky said. "The No. 1 factor of kids going to college is whether their parents went to college. That begins to indicate who goes to college in the first place."
So, why don't you give scholarships to people whose parents did not go to college, or people whose come from poor upbringings?
Anonymous (December 4, 2006 @ 8:56am):
Poster #1 is dead on.
Race-blind scholarships can fulfill the goals of the racial scholarships if they are aimed at putting students in college that would otherwise not attend. The methods could be based on parents education, income level, geographic location, or quality of high school education.
Also, a main problem with racial scholarships is that many times they are not helping those students they are intended to help. The minority students from the poorest schools, parents with little education, and from the inner city do not receive scholarships. The minority students most able to apply for scholarships are those which are more likely to attend college in the first place: parents income level is higher, and attended good high schools.
I can cite one example: A very smart student from my highschool also attended UW. His parents both have high paying jobs at a fortune 500 company. Their house is in the suburbs and worth ~$400,000. He was granted a private scholarship for full tuition and expenses for minority students. Was the scholarship really intended to help a student with this type of background?
There are a lot of scholarships that ask students to write about hardships overcome. This is a good way to determine, in a race-blind way, which students would benefit most from receiving a scholarship.
Anonymous (December 4, 2006 @ 10:07am):
"So, why don't you give scholarships to people whose parents did not go to college, or people whose come from poor upbringings?"
They can't do that because most of those people aren't white or Republican.
