Responding to pressure from various civil-rights groups, Washington University in St. Louis announced Friday it will allow anyone to apply for a scholarship program previously reserved for African-American students.
The John B. Ervin Scholars program was created in memory of John B. Ervin, renowned African-American educator and former dean of the School of Continuing Education at Washington University. The program recognized the “intellectual, leadership, and service achievements of African-American students,” according to the Washington University website.
Until last week, up to 10 scholarships, each consisting of full tuition and a $2,500 annual stipend, could be awarded only to United States citizens of African descent. The scholarships covered four years of undergraduate study, provided the students maintained strong academic records.
The U.S. Education Department began investigating the program in September and recently advised the university to open it to all students, regardless of ethnic background.
The university’s Vice Chancellor for Students James McLeod said considering the recent legal case at the University of Michigan, he believed the university could no longer award scholarships on a “race-exclusive” basis, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Clif Conrad, University of Wisconsin professor in educational administration, sees no reason why scholarships cannot be designated for specific groups.
“In the South, certain scholarships have been used to attract more white students to desegregate overwhelmingly black universities,” he said. “I think it’s perfectly appropriate as long as the intent is not racist.”
Conrad added he believes affirmative action in the short run makes sense.
“I believe in equal opportunity. We have yet to make a perfect world. When there are significant inequalities that we can identify, there is a myriad of actions we can take to address them,” he said.
Conrad noted, however, he does not favor reparations because it is “impossible” to determine who deserves how much and because reparations promote a “victim mentality.”
According to its website, the Center for Equal Opportunity is a “nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational organization that focuses on civil rights, bilingual education and immigration issues nationwide.”
Roger Clegg, the CEO’s general counsel, said the organization strongly opposes affirmative action and was among the groups to urge Wash U. to open the John B. Ervin scholarship to all students.
“People should be judged as individuals,” he said. “It’s certainly true that some students have had more opportunities than others, but students who have lacked opportunities come in all colors.”
Clegg added he would support preference on the basis of socio-economic disadvantage.
“There are African-American kids from upper- and middle-class families, and there are white kids who come from poverty or are the first in their families to attend college,” he said. “Scholarships should help kids who could make a particular contribution, regardless of racial or ethnic background. Washington University made the right decision for all students.”
One issue highlighted by Conrad was the importance of diversity on campus.
“I think the UW can do a better job of giving equal opportunity beyond just admitting people of different ethnicities,” he said, adding a lot of minorities admitted to UW are not very different in socio-economic terms. “We tend to be getting an under-representation of poor African-Americans and Latinos.”
Conrad said it can be difficult to determine who is a minority.
“We look at the intersection of race, ethnicity and class. Poor African-American kids, Latino kids and Native American kids have long been under-represented,” Conrad said, adding that it brings diversity to the campus when students come from genuinely different backgrounds.
“We can’t guarantee the quality of outcome [in admitting a minority student] but we can guarantee the quality of opportunity.”
