Whites-Only Scholarship Stirs R.I. College

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...y_scholarship_2

 

Whites-Only Scholarship Stirs R.I. College

 

By MICHAEL MELLO, Associated Press Writer

 

BRISTOL, R.I. - On the sleepy coastal campus of Roger Williams University, a small liberal arts school unaccustomed to student activism, the College Republicans are reveling in the debate they've kicked up by offering a scholarship for whites only.

 

The $250 award — which required an essay on "why you are proud of your white heritage" and a recent picture to "confirm whiteness" — has invited the wrath of everyone from minority groups and school officials to the chairman of the Republican National Committee (news - web sites) himself.

 

Jason Mattera, a junior who started the conservative campus group in his freshman year, said kindling debate over free speech and affirmative action was just what he wanted — and he promises more.

 

"We did our job," said Mattera, 20, of Brooklyn, N.Y. "This is what college is all about, challenging the status quo."

 

They did such a good job that school President Roy Nirschel, who has clashed with the group before, cut short a trip to Vietnam last month to begin what he called "a healing process" — including forming a commission on civil discourse.

 

The 35-member group first went toe-to-toe with university administration last year over a series of monthly newsletter articles accusing homosexuals of squelching free speech by pushing for hate-crimes legislation. The articles alleged that a well-known gay-rights group indoctrinates students into homosexual sex.

 

The administration froze the College Republicans' money for two days. Nirschel said in turn, he received threatening letters claiming he was suppressing the group.

 

Then another article critical of Kwanzaa, which celebrates the history and heritage of Africa, sparked a complaint by a multicultural student group.

 

Before the Student Senate had a chance to deal with that issue, the College Republicans came up with the whites-only scholarship.

 

The application for the $250 award required an essay on "why you are proud of your white heritage" and a recent picture to "confirm whiteness."

 

"Evidence of bleaching will disqualify applicants," read the application.

 

Mattera, who is of Puerto Rican descent, said the scholarship was a parody of minority scholarships. Mattera himself was awarded a $5,000 scholarship from the Hispanic College Fund, he said.

 

"Those who come from white (descent) are left to find scholarships on their own," Mattera said.

 

The whites-only scholarship generated national publicity, which angered university officials and many students who worried their school was being labeled as racist. Minorities make up less than 10 percent of the 3,400 full-time undergraduates.

 

Some minorities on campus, like Maria Ahmed, a 20-year-old junior from Providence, felt targeted.

 

"At first it was about the newspaper, just about every issue they were bashing some small minority group," said Ahmed, whose parents were born in Nigeria. "It's hard being a minority on campus, and it felt like (they) were directly talking about you."

 

The scholarship was criticized by the state Republican Party and Ed Gillespie, chairman of the Republican National Committee. In a Feb. 17 letter to Mattera, Gillespie said the scholarship conveys a "message of exclusion" that doesn't represent the party's values. He suspended the group's right to use the party's symbols.

 

Nirschel, who says he's eager to attract more minority students and faculty members, called the scholarship "repugnant" and convened a town meeting on campus he said attracted more than 500 people.

 

The meeting, he said, was the first of its kind in the university's history.

 

His commission on civil discourse includes faculty and student members and has already decided to organize a debate team and create a journal. "This has caused me to redouble our efforts to make the campus open," Nirschel said.

 

Mattera's cause has seen plenty of support, too.

 

Increased donations raised the scholarship, which was initially only supposed to be for $50, to $250. The American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites) backed the group's right to free speech after the Student Senate considered taking away its funding after the scholarship was awarded to Adam Noska, a 21-year-old junior from Weymouth, Mass. The Senate set aside the issue.

 

Some students just liked the idea of a whites-only scholarship.

 

"Nothing gets to me more than affirmative action," said Jamie Pattison, 19, a sophomore from Marblehead, Mass. "People want handouts."

 

Despite initial plans to make the scholarship annual, Mattera said it won't be offered next year.

 

"We'll continue to fight affirmative action ... but I think I made the point," he said.

[Jingus 0]

I still can't tell if the group is just making a huge satire on political correctness and reverse racism, or if they really are just a bunch of idiot racist fucksticks. Ah well, they'll be shouted down and stomped on by the school administration either way.

[Guest Anglesault]

The ACLU backed them?

 

Interesting.

[Highland 0]

Probably all of the above.

[Guest Anglesault]

I still can't tell if the group is just making a huge satire on political correctness and reverse racism, or if they really are just a bunch of idiot racist fucksticks

I'd say it's the former, as they aren't saying "It's wrong to be black/Spanish/gay/whatever" but rather bashing Afirmative Action and the like. They're attacking the politics rather than the people.

[2GOLD 0]

All of this over a $250 scholarship? What's that going to buy you, a book?

 

I still can't take this serious.

[lomasmoney 0]

All of this over a $250 scholarship? What's that going to buy you, a book?

 

I still can't take this serious.

If they are lucky it will buy them a book. For my biology class it was 150 for the textbook, 25 for the lab manual, and another 40 for the coursepack, which is three practice exams, some articles, and a bunch of figures and diagrams that are already in the textbook.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

It's all just to prove a point, like that AA bake sale a while back that charged white buyers more than women/minority buyers.

 

Personally, I find this funny as hell and hope more places hold such events.

 

kkk -- who's proud of his white heritage of pick-up trucks, confederate flags and the first day of huntin' and fishin'...

[Kardo 0]

A related topic from a fair while back

[ant_7000 0]

This so stupid, but since scholarships can be privately funded for whatever reason they're entitled to have a "white schalorships." Jason is just a hypocrite, give back your scholarship. AA also benefits whites, and the handicap NOT just minorities. Our president benefitted from a form of AA.

[Tawren 0]

This so stupid, but since scholarships can be privately funded for whatever reason they're entitled to have a "black schalorships."

Fixed.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

""Evidence of bleaching will disqualify applicants," read the application."

 

That's Gold.

[Astro101 0]

I don't really like AA, but if I can get money because of my race, I'd take it. Go Asians!

[ant_7000 0]

This so stupid, but since scholarships can be privately funded for whatever reason they're entitled to have a "black schalorships."

Fixed.

Huh?

[Papacita 0]

I just saw an advertisement on AOL the other day advertising scholarships for left-handed people.

 

How come nobody ever makes an issue out of those?

[Highland 0]

Hey, I'm left-handed. Can I check the box under "minority" on my next job application then sue if I don't get hired?

[Papacita 0]

Hey, I'm left-handed. Can I check the box under "minority" on my next job application then sue if I don't get hired?

I swear man, you damn lefties are all alike. Give em an inch, and they take an ell.

 

[Ravenbomb 0]

isn't the majority of the population women? That'd put ME in a minority! Money, please!

[Guest MikeSC]

isn't the majority of the population women? That'd put ME in a minority! Money, please!

Heck, women tend to be a healthy majority on most college campuses (or is it campii?)

-=Mike

...Of course, the GUYS don't tend to mind

[Highland 0]

We're being held down by the Man~!

[Vyce 0]

I just saw an advertisement on AOL the other day advertising scholarships for left-handed people.

 

How come nobody ever makes an issue out of those?

I do.

 

Man, I've been just waiting for a great leader to come along and order all you unnatural bastards rounded up. Maybe we could ship you off to Canada or something.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

isn't the majority of the population women? That'd put ME in a minority! Money, please!

Heck, women tend to be a healthy majority on most college campuses (or is it campii?)

-=Mike

...Of course, the GUYS don't tend to mind

But, Mike, the problem is that although women DO dominate college campuses, they're being held down in the REAL majors like computer science and engineering.

 

Oh, and I'm a left-handed writer, too (although I do everything else with my right hand)...