kramadas Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 BRISTOL, Rhode Island (AP) -- A student group at Roger Williams University is offering a new scholarship for which only white students are eligible, a move they say is designed to protest affirmative action. The application for the $250 award requires an essay on "why you are proud of your white heritage" and a recent picture to "confirm whiteness." "Evidence of bleaching will disqualify applicants," says the application, issued by the university's College Republicans. Jason Mattera, 20, who is president of the College Republicans, said the group is parodying minority scholarships. "We think that if you want to treat someone according to character and how well they achieve academically, then skin color shouldn't really be an option," he said. "Many people think that coming from a white background you're automatically privileged, you're automatically rich and your parents pay full tuition. That's just not the case." The stunt has angered some at the university, but the administration is staying out of the fray. The school's provost said it is a student group's initiative and is not endorsed by Roger Williams. Mattera, who is of Puerto Rican descent, is himself a recipient of a $5,000 scholarship open only to a minority group. "No matter what my ethnicity is, I'm making a statement that scholarships should be given out based on merit and need," Mattera told the Providence Journal. His group took out a full-page ad in last week's issue of the university's student newspaper to tout the scholarship, which was for $50 until two donors came forward to add $100 each during the weekend, Mattera said. It's not the first brush with controversy for the group. The school temporarily froze the Republicans' money in the fall during a fight over a series of articles published in its monthly newsletter. One article alleged that a gay-rights group indoctrinates students into homosexual sex. http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/02/15/whites.only.ap/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmatas2277 Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 Originally posted by raver_mania "Many people think that coming from a white background you're automatically privileged, you're automatically rich and your parents pay full tuition. That's just not the case." if this WAS the case...where the hell were my parents when they started handing out dough?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breakbeatz2 Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 i dont know if this is the right way to go about it, but i'm all for abolishing affirmative action. its time is done. all it is now is reverse racism. and coming from a top tier business school where i saw already privileged minorities (primarily eqyptian, pakistani, and indian students) getting into elite minority programs which guaranteed them top placements at top investment banks, i've seen the effects (none of em good) of affirmative action Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tired Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 Originally posted by mrmatas2277 if this WAS the case...where the hell were my parents when they started handing out dough?? read it again and pay attention... "bleaching your skin" disqualifies you...... sheesh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmatas2277 Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 Originally posted by tired read it again and pay attention... "bleaching your skin" disqualifies you...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nifer Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 kind of ironic how the guy who is leading this crusade is on race-based scholarship Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattbateman Posted February 17 Report Share Posted February 17 thats awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintron Posted February 17 Report Share Posted February 17 well it's only fair i suppose. Having scholarships that are only available to minorities is basically the same thing as what they're doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigpoppanils Posted February 17 Report Share Posted February 17 these organizations do exist all over the place, although their intentions mostly dont seem to be to subvert affirmative action.i got a scholarship similar to this during my first 2 years of college ($1000 annually). It was from an organization called Norwegian Children's Home. One of the essay questions was to describe what my Norwegain heritage means to me. i dont think its operating anymore though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillfire Posted February 17 Report Share Posted February 17 Originally posted by cintron well it's only fair i suppose. Having scholarships that are only available to minorities is basically the same thing as what they're doing. agreed, i think its great that some students are taking action against it. Its stupid that when you take your SATs in high school you have to check if you're a minority cause than you're automatically qualified for a scholarship.... i don't knwo if they still do the same thing but 7 years ago they did.if you're smart and don't have the needed financial support to go to school than it shouldn't matter what color you are, you should still be qualified for scholarships. and not disqualified just because youre not a minority. same thing goes with jobs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siceone Posted February 17 Report Share Posted February 17 I thnk this is a good thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.