Caucasian Achievement and Recognition Scholarship
I read an article this morning that the Boston University College Republicans (BUCR) is giving a scholarship called the “Caucasian Achievement and Recognition Scholarship”.
From the article:
“Did we do this to give a scholarship to white kids? Of course not,” the scholarship reads. “Did we do it to trigger a discussion on what we believe to be the morally wrong practice of basing decisions in our schools and our jobs on racial preferences rather than merit? Absolutely.”
I must tip my hat to the BUCR’s (as I would to any organization) for bringing up this issue. It is one that people don’t want to talk about. To many things are not equal. That goes for scholarships and jobs. I think to many people sit quietly by and watch all of this.
I know of one person who will not hire some one based on race or sex. If he has 2 candidates of different sex or race, but they are equal (in the initial interview) on qualifications he’ll bring them in for as many interviews as it takes to get the more qualified person. He will not make a decision based upon race, sex, religion, or anything like that. It’s based upon qualifications.
Affirmative Action has been a hot topic. In fact, my first big policy research paper was on this very subject. I think it’s great that the BUCR is bringing attention to this issue. We see it played out in a lot of schools across the nation. I believe that it’s a big issue on Bethel’s campus, however in my interview of the Admissions Counselor there he said Affirmative Action was not used in the process of accepting students.
My paper was on the topic of Affirmative Action and using that in the college admissions process, but it would have been interesting to do it with Scholarships. I have a feeling that a lot of schools have scholarships with racial preferences.
I personally think that in today’s society we need to give people equal footing. We don’t want to elevate one group over the other. “Equal Opportunities” is the common phrase. But when schools give out scholarships based upon racial preferences is that equal? Shouldn’t scholarships be based upon need? (I don’t think schools define “need” very well. They define need based upon what their parents make. What if the parent’s don’t help their kids with finances in college? A person from a family that has an income of $50,000/year but their family doesn’t help out with tuition costs is on the same financial footing as a person from a family that has an income of $20,000/yr.)
Any thoughts?
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I agree with you in the sense that how need is based off of what your parents make if fundamentally flawed since you are right. It really doesn’t make a difference if your parents make 20,000 a year or 200,000 a year if they won’t give you any money for schooling.
As far as AA goes I feel it does have a place in society, however we are human and so it is acted out wrongly in case by case basis depending on the people involved. I really wish that we as people could look beyond race, sex, etc but the sad fact is many of us can’t see past that and just see a person. I do feel though there is a need on it on some level until the day comes that minorities in the US are just as well off as the people who have the most say in policies that are made in the US which like it or not are you and me (well middle to upper class white AAmerican males – and somewhat women). Good post though Austin, really makes one think.
Comment by Dan — November 22, 2006 @ 7:46 am
Here’s another article on this same topic.
To me it shows that the scholarships should be need based, not race based.
Comment by bleaus — November 22, 2006 @ 11:37 am
i know i’m a little late on this, but…i don’t think as many schools give scholarships based on race – i think that it’s individual organizations that do it more. it’s their money, they have the right to do with that money as they please.
as far as schools go, most do give money based on achievements…i know i got a little bit of money from the state of california and from bethel for test scores and grades.
i may be wrong, but in looking for scholarships, it seemed like it had less to do with the school itself and more so to do with the organizations offering the scholarships – even if it was one person (or group) offering that money through the school of their choice.
don’t you have the choice to set up a scholarship program through bethel that awards money to a white male that’s interested in pursuing a career in politics? or, a student from long prairie? just like i could set one up for a female pursuing physics or someone from the west coast? or just some arbitrary achievement or characteristic?
just my thoughts…
Comment by brooke — November 30, 2006 @ 9:20 am
brooke brings up a really good point. I’m pretty sure most of the scholarships Bethel has that are of that type, were given for those purposes. It appears that in the last fiscal year restricted gifts were about a third, and that’s significantly down from the previous year. Unfortunately in that report when they list gift aid, they give the usual disclaimer about some is restricted, but don’t say how much. What usually happens is someone gives a certain amount to the foundation, with the earmark it be disbursed over x years, or that it be perpetual (only the interest earned is disbursed). When this is done, the giver usually writes the requirements for getting it. Whether the school will accept it on those terms is another question. In any case, you know admissions will push any possibilities to applicants, which may make it seem like they’re helping certain groups more. Of course there are ones that may come from the school’s general funds (in which any giver may threaten to withdraw future gifts), or ones given by the government (in which taxpayers can yell and vote for someone else who they don’t think will do the same thing).
Back to the withdraw future gifts thing. One of the most effective ways to control a school (or any non-profit), is to give a significant conditional recurring gift. If it’s large enough, they will get dependent on it and won’t want to lose it, and will jump through hoops (or change policies and positions) to keep it. For this reason most organizations will tend to avoid gifts like that in the first place, usually by trying to talk their way out of the conditions up front. If the conditions start off in line enough, the gift is large enough, or it’s started small enough and pushed up slowly, it may still be possible to get one’s influence in place. It also works on a smaller scale across large groups of gift-givers, with the concerns about may small to medium gifts going away if certain changes are made. An example there is the whole drinking thing. Money is too powerful an influence these days…
Comment by Jeremy — November 30, 2006 @ 3:15 pm