Jimmy Chitwood
Hall of Famer
make sure to read the president of the naacp's take on the situation at the end of the article...it won't surprise you.
Race Loses Its Place On College Scholarship Applications
By Jonathan Glater
The New York Times
Published: Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Facing threats of litigation and pressure from Washington, colleges and universities nationwide are opening to white students hundreds of thousands of dollars in fellowships, scholarships and other programs previously aimed at minorities.
Southern Illinois University reached a consent decree last month with the Justice Department to allow nonminority students and men access to graduate fellowships originally created for women and minorities.
In January, the State University of New York made white students eligible for $6.8 million of aid in two scholarship programs also previously available just for minorities. Pepperdine University is negotiating with the Education Department over its use of race as a criterion in its programs.
advertisement ``They're all trying to minimize their legal exposure,'' Susan Sturm, a law professor at Columbia University, said about colleges and universities. ``The question is how are they doing that, and are they doing that in a way that's going to shut down any effort or any successful effort to diversify the student body?''
The institutions are reacting to two 2003 Supreme Court cases on using race in admissions at the University of Michigan. Although the cases did not ban using race in admissions to higher education, they did leave the state of the law unclear, and with the changing composition of the court, some university and college officials fear legal challenges.
The affected areas include programs for high schools and graduate fellowships.
It is far too early to determine the effects of the changes on the presence of minorities in higher education and how far the pool of money for scholarships and similar programs will stretch.
Firm data on how many institutions have modified their policies is elusive because colleges and institutions are not eager to trumpet the changes.
At least a handful are seeking to put more money into the programs as they expand the possible pool of applicants.
Some white students are qualifying for the aid. Last year, in response to a legal threat from the Education Department, Washington University in St. Louis modified the standards for an undergraduate scholarship that had been open just to minorities and was named for the first African-American dean at the university.
This year, the first since the change, 12 of the 42 first-year recipients are white.
Advocates of focused scholarships programs such as Theodore Shaw, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc., challenge the notion that programs for minority students hurt whites.
``How is it that they conclude that the great evil in this country is discrimination against white people?'' Shaw asked. ``Can I put that question any more pointedly? I struggle to find the words to do it because it's so stunning.''
Shaw said protecting scholarships and other programs for minorities was ``at the top of our agenda.''
Race Loses Its Place On College Scholarship Applications
By Jonathan Glater
The New York Times
Published: Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Facing threats of litigation and pressure from Washington, colleges and universities nationwide are opening to white students hundreds of thousands of dollars in fellowships, scholarships and other programs previously aimed at minorities.
Southern Illinois University reached a consent decree last month with the Justice Department to allow nonminority students and men access to graduate fellowships originally created for women and minorities.
In January, the State University of New York made white students eligible for $6.8 million of aid in two scholarship programs also previously available just for minorities. Pepperdine University is negotiating with the Education Department over its use of race as a criterion in its programs.
advertisement ``They're all trying to minimize their legal exposure,'' Susan Sturm, a law professor at Columbia University, said about colleges and universities. ``The question is how are they doing that, and are they doing that in a way that's going to shut down any effort or any successful effort to diversify the student body?''
The institutions are reacting to two 2003 Supreme Court cases on using race in admissions at the University of Michigan. Although the cases did not ban using race in admissions to higher education, they did leave the state of the law unclear, and with the changing composition of the court, some university and college officials fear legal challenges.
The affected areas include programs for high schools and graduate fellowships.
It is far too early to determine the effects of the changes on the presence of minorities in higher education and how far the pool of money for scholarships and similar programs will stretch.
Firm data on how many institutions have modified their policies is elusive because colleges and institutions are not eager to trumpet the changes.
At least a handful are seeking to put more money into the programs as they expand the possible pool of applicants.
Some white students are qualifying for the aid. Last year, in response to a legal threat from the Education Department, Washington University in St. Louis modified the standards for an undergraduate scholarship that had been open just to minorities and was named for the first African-American dean at the university.
This year, the first since the change, 12 of the 42 first-year recipients are white.
Advocates of focused scholarships programs such as Theodore Shaw, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc., challenge the notion that programs for minority students hurt whites.
``How is it that they conclude that the great evil in this country is discrimination against white people?'' Shaw asked. ``Can I put that question any more pointedly? I struggle to find the words to do it because it's so stunning.''
Shaw said protecting scholarships and other programs for minorities was ``at the top of our agenda.''